Loving Life

Well Nyah is definitely showing me by example how to love life. She loves whatever she is doing at that very moment. Here are a few of her favorites...

Chocolate Pudding - doesn't this look like pure happiness?

Wearing my heels (or whatever shoes she can find)
Bath time (which includes lining her tub toys up along the edge of the tub)

Monkey Bizness. Last week Ryan and I decided to take Nyah to Monkey Bizness. This is a place where kids can just go and play (of course for a small fee). Anyway, the last time we went was when Shari, Lisa, and Hallie were here and both girls loved it. Nyah loved it again. We kept asking her if she had fun being a monkey so that night when I was rocking her (yes I still rock her because it's the only time she holds still and I get to love on her) she kept saying, "monkey" and "happy" and then I got her to say "happy monkey". She was a very happy monkey that night.




Playing with Toby - you will see below that Toby is looking to Ryan to find out if he really has to share and if he really has to listen to Nyah (the answer to both questions is yes). Nyah is getting quite good at telling Toby what to do. :)

Nyah getting a kick out of watching Toby.

Toby waiting patiently for Nyah. Toby does great with her.

Nyah thinks the whole game of fetch is just hilarious. :)

I don't have a picture this time but we also went swimming over the weekend. All day yesterday Nyah would say "swimming". Apparently it was memorable and I think she's trying to remind us that she would love to go again. :)

I'm grateful for the joy she brings into our lives and the constant example she gives me to love every moment and to enjoy the small and simple things in life.

Another Month Flies By!

Well we had a great holiday season and want to say thanks to all of you. We started out with a trip to Utah to see Dale and Kathy. It was a relaxing weekend and we really enjoyed our time with them. We went to the park, went to see some Christmas lights, and enjoyed each other's company. We were also able to see Grandma and Grandpa Blanken which is always great.

Then we had a couple of hectic weeks getting ready for Christmas and our trip to Idaho. We went to Idaho on the 23rd. Ryan suggested we leave after work so Nyah could just sleep. I was worried (that's my Mom's fault that I worry) about the roads being worse at night but it worked out fine. We had a "white-out" in Wyoming for about a 1/2 hour but besides that they weren't bad. Nyah slept great for all but about the first two hours.

We spent Christmas Eve with the Lewis Family as is the tradition and had lots of fun. Nyah got really tired by the end of the night so that was a new challenge but it was good times. Thanks to the Lewis Family!

Christmas we started with the Pincocks since Jana was scheduled to call at 9:00. It was fun having all of us there together again (except Jana of course but we did get to talk to her). It was great to hear Jana's voice again. I think that's what I miss the most about this whole mission thing but I guess that's part of the sacrifice. Her mission president gave her 40 minutes and we loved every last second of it. Now we just need to wait another four months for Mother's Day. :)

Then we spent the rest of the day with Valerie and Angela. Angela always loves to watch the new movies she gets for Christmas. Adonia and her family came later and we enjoyed spending time with them later in the week. We borrowed Aaron's Wii and there were some intense tennis competitions. :)

Ryan came home on Monday because he needed to get back to work. A huge benefit of my job is I get four weeks of vacation so I decided to stay the rest of the week. Shari stayed as well even though Orrin had to get back to work. It was great to get to spend some extra time. Also the trips are usually quick so there isn't much time to see old friends and extended family so it was fun to be able to do that as well.

Nyah really enjoyed Christmas this year and it was lots of fun to watch her open her gifts. I look forward to coming years when we can explain the true meaning of Christmas and can focus on giving to those in need. Thanks again to all of you for letting us spend time in your homes and hanging out with us. We had a great time. :)

Nyah's First Christmas Program

So Nyah had a Christmas program for her school yesterday and it was hilarious to watch all of the little kids. I saved just a small part of the video Ryan recorded. The younger kids weren't doing much singing but there was some cute dancing going on.

When they walked out there with the big sunglasses and the jingle bells tied to their wrists, I about died. It was so cute. I also need to do a bunch of other catching up but that will have to be another day because it's past my bedtime!

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I think about Thanksgiving, there are so many things I am thankful for. I'm so thankful for so many blessings in my life. I'm grateful for my family and the love and support they always are. I'm thankful for the fact that Ryan and I both have jobs right now to provide for our needs. With the economy these days, I realize that is something to be very grateful for. I'm also thankful for friends. I'm thankful for the opportunity to watch Nyah grow up each day and to see her smile and laugh which in turn makes me smile and laugh. I'm grateful that we are healthy. I'm also thankful for the gospel and our Savior who made it possible for families to be together forever.

I hope everybody has a great Thanksgiving and thanks for the important part all of you play in our lives! We are so thankful for each one of you! Happy Thanksgiving!

Good Little Helper

So no pictures today but I thought I would share some of the new things Nyah is doing. She helps unload the dishwasher. She takes all of the plates and the bowls from the bottom rack and stacks them on the end of the dishwasher. It is so cute. I'm going to have to get it on video one of these days. I can't believe how big she is getting. :) My mom asked if she's careful and I would say she is very careful (as careful as a 1 1/2 year old can be). There have been a couple of times where I've been glad it's Corelle.

She is doing the actions to lots of songs these days (Eensy Weensy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, Slippery Fish, etc.) so that's been fun to see. She is also a crack up as she sings E-I-E-I-O in Old McDonald. It's more like E-I-O but very cute.

Nyah will say "uno" and "dos" which is different than in English because every time I say "one" she just says "two". I can't get her to say "one". Funny girl. I also tell her all the time that she is "bella" (beautiful) and she'll repeat that after me. So we are working on our Spanish skills. At her little school they are starting a program with Mandarin Chinese and I just think that's funny. Spanish seems much more practical to me so hopefully they'll do both. You know me, I'm all about what's practical.

Well that was just a little bit of an update on Nyah. She continues to learn new words and loves to play with her toys. As we go upstairs at night she waves and says "bye bye toys". The word "toys" isn't super clear but distinctive none the less.

Adios!