Happy Birthday Kaela

Happy Birthday Kae-Bella

We love you very much! 15 is going to be great! Keep up the good work, keep smiling and thanks for making us laugh. You are such a blessing to us and our family! Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Day 4 of the Ryan Spring Break

DAY 4

BOWLING AT BIG AL'S

Day 4 was AWESOME!

First stop...TACO BELL...That made the teenagers happy!
(Well, except for Matthew who must have been sucking on a sour patch kid)

Then it was off to bowling! Big Al's is a great place in Vancouver, WA. They have 2 bowling alleys and a fun arcade. We rented a couple of lanes on "Slider Alley" which is gorgeous! Nice couches, huge screens, soft lighting, fun music...
honestly it felt kinda ritzy! :o)

All good things must come to an end. This week has been so much fun...but I'm afraid that we are totally pooped!
Oh yeah, and broke :o)
We are going to take the next few days to relax, get rooms cleaned,
and get ready for a new week.

The good news is that there are only 56 days of school left until summer break!

Day 3 of the Ryan Spring Break

DAY 3

Seaside, Oregon

For day 3 of our extravaganza, we packed up the troops for a day at the beach. We went to Seaside which is a little over an hour away from our house. We brought along our huge OSU kite! It was a perfect day to fly the kite, but it was probably a little too windy. The water was freezing....typical for the Oregon Coast, but I still managed to put my toes in the water.

Bill and Jalen getting kite airborne

Hanging out on the windy beach

Seaside has a great arcade in the middle of the town. We played there for more than an hour and had a great time! They had the "Deal or No Deal" game and we spent most of our moolah on that game! Allie won the top prize of 200 tickets TWICE! Jalen won 200 tickets and so did Larissa!

After the arcade, we HAD to stop and get some salt water taffy. The seaside candy man is always out on the corner of the street singing "The Candy Man Can" and handing out taffy. Everyone can spin the wheel for a chance to win free prizes.
We didn't win. :o)

We walked around a little bit and stopped to get an elephant ear! They have the BEST elephant ears on the planet. My favorite is the one with bavarian cream and chocolate! Totally sinful and totally worth it!

It was a great day!! Now we are off to have fun with day 4!

Day 2 of the Ryan Spring Break

DAY 2

Day 2 of our Spring Break started off with some pancakes and a scary movie. I must say that it was a pretty unusual way to start a day, but it was really fun.

I just LOVE this picture of the girls!

They were so cute and scared...so adorable!

After the scary movie, we went out the batting cages to hit a few balls. It was a really fun activity for everyone, and the girls got some hitting practice too!

We ended the day with a trip to Coldstone for Ice Cream then home for Taco Salad and a movie. It was another wonderful day with the family.

I'm off to get some sleep because tomorrow is going to be blast!

Day 1 of the Ryan Spring Break!

Spring Break 2010

As I was planning Spring Break this year, we debated a couple of different options. Bill and I both have the week off, so we could have gone out of town to the beach for a couple of days with the kids with a couple of hotel rooms, OR we could have a staycation. We all voted for the stay-cation! I have 5 fun-filled days planned with our family. Not all the kids can go to each activity (because of work schedules), but we are so excited for our family time together! This is going to be a super fun, crazy, hectic, funny, exhausting, memorable and special week!

DAY 1

We all went to go see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. It was a great movie.
Johnny Depp is such an amazing actor!

Hmmm....I wonder what Day 2 of the

Ryan Spring Break will bring?
Stay Tuned!

March Birthdays 2010

March Madness!

Happy Birthday Matthew, Kaela & Allie

Sunday was spent celebrating 3 of our 6 teenager's birthday. We had brunch with family and friends at our house.

Oh, and we discovered our new favorite cake! It's an ice cream cake from Coldstone! It has red velvet cake and cake batter ice cream.
It was so amazing that I actually had a dream about it last night!!

Bill and Taylor...Silly boys!

A table full of teenagers....Ooooo Scary!

Take me out to the ballgame!

Softball season is HERE!!

I love Spring for many reasons, but the top of the list is SOFTBALL! I love to watch my twin girls Jalen and Courtney play. We had a double header game yesterday and the weather was gorgeous. But the weather can change without notice here in Oregon, so it didn't take long until we were all bundled up in hats, jackets, and blankets.


Jalen and Courtney are GREAT ball players. They both have some amazing qualities that they bring to their team. We will be having games until Mid-May. Here are some pictures from the game yesterday.

I love the side profile of the girls! So intense!

Courtney rounding 3rd base!

Jalen is amazing at keeping the spritis up for her team!

State Dance Competition....

We are ALUMNI!

Allie and I went to the state dance competition on Thursday night with Missy and Lauren. It was fun to be watching the competition as alumni. We were able to just enjoy the night and cheer on Westview! They took 4th in State, so we are extremely proud of them. Congratulations Wildthings!

Here a great picture of Alumni with the new dance team.

Happy Birthday Parker

Parker = 15!

We wanted to wish our nephew Parker a very happy 15th birthday! WE LOVE YOU SPARKY!!

Allie's 19th birthday dinner

Allie's Birthday Dinner

Courtney, Jalen, Me, Aaliyah, Bill, Kaela, Boy Alex, Girl Alex

We have a very nice dinner out for Allie's birthday. We went to the Spaghetti Factory. It was so good and it was nice to spend time together with the family. Matthew and Taylor had to work, but Boy Alex joined in on the festivities.

When it came time to sing Happy Birthday to Alex, our server asked her to stand up on her chair. So a very embarrassed Alex reluctantly got up on her chair and let us sing to her. It was really funny!

"Happy Birthday Allie"

Bill and our God-Daughter, Aaliyah

Happy 19th Birthday Allie

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLIE!

Allie is home from college for the next 17 days for Spring Break! We are thrilled that we get to celebrate with her.

19 years ago, at 4:44pm, this precious little girl joined our family and our hearts. We love you so much Allie. You are such a wonderful young lady and we are so excited for your future!

Happy Birthday sweetie!

Matthew is a MAN!

Happy 18th Birthday Matthew!

We want to wish our son Matthew a wonderful 18th birthday.
We are so proud of him!

Here are a few reasons why...

• Matthew is a great student - 3.6 GPA
• Matthew works 2 part time jobs - Red Robin and a Tae-Kwon-Do instructor
  
• Matthew is an incredible artist and musician
• Matthew is a good driver (most of the time...ha ha)
• Matthew gives the best hugs and kisses

It has been a real privilege watching you grow up Matthew. The future is all yours... Take it and run with it honey!

We love you SOOOOO much!