Merry Christmas to ALL!!

Instead of sending out Christmas cards this year like I always do (wait, have I EVER sent a Christmas card) I decided it would be a fabulous idea to make my header a Christmas card! We have been very busy packing up our house, not to mention my procrastination, and the time just flew right by. Well, I thought this was a great idea until I realized it has been a while since I changed my header. So it took me longer to figure it out than it would have to write and send out Christmas cards! You win some and lose some. Anyways, Merry Christmas to ALL!

Five Simple Rules for Happiness:

1. Free your heart from hatred
2. Free your mind from worries
3. Live SIMPLY

4. Give more

5. Expect less

6.Oh, and having lots of money helps... that must be why we are so happy! LOL!

#6 was added by Ryan.

Here I am playing catch-up again!!

My computer had a virus and it took hubby a few weeks to get around to fixing it (you know how that goes). Then it was fixed for a day or two and then the whole computer crashed. So Hubby is still working on that and in the mean-time I am going crazy without a computer. I don't recommend it. I am taking advantage of his on-call laptop to catch up. So here is what we have been up to. A few more to come as well as more pics.

BIG NEWS!!

We are MOVING!!!

Ryan got accepted to nursing school at Eastern Arizona College in Thatcher, AZ starting on January 7th. Our house is located in Safford about 6 miles from the college and about 45 minutes from Ryan's folks. It should be an exciting, fun, and poor two years! Yeah for figuring out what we want to do with our lives at 30... better late than never! I am so proud of Ryan and I am actually looking forward to the change, although I am really going to miss everyone! Thank goodness for blogs, right?

Happy THANKSGIVING!!

I am grateful for:

-My husband Ryan
-My sweet girls Abby and Kenna
-A Heavenly Father that loves me no matter what
-A loving dad that I know watches over me and gives me strength
-My sweet Mom that is amazingly strong and a great role model
-All of my family
-Friends
-Our health
-Love
-The Gospel
-My testimony
-Ryan's love and support through everything and all of his hard work
-Our home
-Our freedom
-Our home, food, and jobs


This year we spent Thanksgiving with the Harris crew. It was a crew alright! Heather blessed her little guy Merrick on Sunday so her entire in-law family was in town and Francie invited them to our Thanksgiving dinner. And Tiffani's Mother-in-law was also in town so we invited her as well. I think we had about 40 people there and we were one BIG happy family! We enjoyed stuffing our faces and then we all sat around singing along to some good tunes played by Danny and Ed Torriente as well as my sweet Ry (just like the good 'ol days). After our food settled a bit, everyone played a game of soccer. Then we parted our ways and moved on to my mom's house where we ate some amazing pies! You seriously have not lived until you have enjoyed a slice of Bonnie's homeade pie! WHOA!

HUNTING FOR BAMBI!!

Ryan went with his dad and brothers on their yearly hunting trip (we like to call it camping with guns because they usually don't see any deer let alone kill anything). However, this time Ryan finally did it! Yeah Hubby I am so excited for you and even more excited to eat what you killed! Yumm! Yumm!

To Be Continued..... by Ryan someday

ABBY is FOUR!!

Abby at 4!

39 lbs. 41 inches

-She is the Best Big sister ever!

-She is so sweet to Kenna (most of the time)

-She is always giving hugs and kisses to us and saying "love you too"

-She loves to ride bikes, swing, read books, dance, play with cousins and friends, go to Duncan

-We love her sassy hair, all of it!

-She loves to help mom around the house with everything from laundry to making beds to cooking. I really enjoy that when I'm not in a hurry.

-When someone has an owie she says "what'd you bonk from?"

-When she sees a bald man she asks "where's his top hair?"

Abby wanted to have her birthday party at the park this year. So we played, ate pizza and cake, and had one heck of a party! Thank you everyone for coming and making Abby's day special!! I can't believe my little girl is already 4!

October

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

A little ladybug and Snow White

The girls had a lot of fun going out on Halloween and getting lots of candy! Abby wanted to be Snow White this year and Kenna didn't really care so she got a hand-me-down ladybug (l love hand-me-downs, thank you Jen for all the clothes)

And then...........

David Beckham and Aunt Jemima

We bleached Ryan's hair for his costume and we painted my face for my costume. Aren't we a fabulous couple! This was at Heather's annual Halloween party. We had a lot of fun and of course Aunt Jemima won best costume of the night!! Isn't that the sickest costume ever!!

We had a good time with Drew and Amy, some of our good friends that were also at the party.

BUNCO

This month for Bunco we dressed up and it was a blast! I am crackin up just thinking about it


I also had another encounter with Aunt Jemima this month but this time I had a partner, Uncle Jemima! This is me as Aunt Jemima and Dani Smith as Uncle Jemima! We had a blast and we won BEST costume of the night! So hilarious! I will never forget this night.

This is the rest of the crew.

BIG MESS!!

So I was on the computer working and I thought the girls were playing in their room. Oh No!They were playing alright, but NOT in their room! I decided to check on them and came out to this lovely mess! Two dozen eggs cracked all over the floor and the piano! Oh My Gosh! My first reaction was "What the heck are you doing, absolutely not"! Then I took a deep breath in and realized they are just kids, do not beat the crap out of them over a big mess! Do take a picture so we can show them all the trouble they caused me. I probably could post about one of these posts a day titled "BIG MESS".

You can only see half of the mess!! It was all over the piano keys as well.

How could you get mad at this?!!

SILLY GIRLS!!

On the contrary, the good outways the bad with kids, doesn't it? As much as my girls make messes and cause trouble, they make me laugh even more!!

Moms maxi pads! Or bandaids as they called them. Abby was the accomplice in crime.

I am sorry but I couldn't resist this! She was playing dress up and obviously got dressed all by herself. She had taken off her diaper and this is what you get!

And then she was trying to be a BIG girl like Abby. She is wearing about 5 pairs of pannies! She doesn't quite qualify for a BIG girl yet.

I was looking all over for Abby around the house and couldn't find her. Until she popped out of the dirty clothes hamper. She sure got me. And yes, she is also naked! My girls love to get naked for some reason.

PHOTOS

PHOTO SHOOT

I got the girls pictures taken at target for their 2 and 4 year updates. Of course, when we got there neither one of them would smile. They actually turned out better than I thought. Abby wanted to wear her costume that she wore for her dance recital. I thought sure, who cares? We didn't get any pics of her in her costumes the night of her recital so this will be good. I think they turned out pretty dreamy! And Kenna got a hold of the bear and would not put it down. So there you have it. You get what you pay for!

September

Abby's Starts Preschool!

Abby started preschool this year at the Montessori Learning Center in Mesa. I am a big fan of Montessori learning. My aunt had a Montessori school in her home that my brother Jaren and I went to (I'm pretty sure that's why we are so smart). I love the hands on learning environment. It teaches children to be independent (that's not always better). Abby loves preschool and loves her teachers Miss Christine, Miss Sadie and Miss Nona. We carpool with Brooke and when it's my turn to drive, Kenna and I love to play outside on the swings and in the sand box together. The kids get to play outside for the first 25 minutes of school to get all their wiggles and energy out and the parents can stay if they want.

Trip to Duncan!

Grandma and Grandpa Harris moved to Duncan in April and we like to try and visit as much as we can. The girls absolutely LOVE going to Duncan (especially Abby). She probably asks at least every other day if we are going to Duncan. The Harris' decided to have a family activity every quarter with all the siblings that can make it. This month we decided to go to Duncan for the county fair. We had a lot of fun spending time with family, eating navajo tacos, riding rides, seeing all the animals and grasshoppers and of course going on walks. The girls really enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa and their cousins. Heather and Eddy decided not to come since baby was due in a few weeks. It's a good thing because Heather went into labor while we were gone. The Harris' and Nelsons left Duncan at 3am to make it just in time for Merrick William Torriente to arrive. We are so excited for them and congratulate them as they start their new family!

Abby was reinacting what she did on the Ferris wheel because it was kind of scary. Sorry about the red eye, that is what's scary!

Holy Crap!! Is that the HUGEST grasshopper you've ever seen? (yes folks... that IS a quarter) Those things were everywhere. Abby loved stepping on them and Kenna freaked when they came close to her, as did I.

Grandma and all the cousins riding on the quad. They thought that was so fun! I'm not gonna lie, Grandma driving that thing kind of scared me a little.

August

Look Who's TWO!

27.8 lbs. and 35" tall

I can't believe Kenna is already 2! These 2 years have gone by sooo fast. We celebrated her birthday at Grandma Bonnie's house. She shares the same birthday as her cousin Caleb, so we had a joint party. She was very excited about her gifts and knew exactly what to do with them. She was very good at saying thank you to everyone. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate her life and thanks to me for going through HELL to get her here!

Isn't that the cutest cake!!

She was not sure about all the attention,

and Caleb didn't like the singing so much!

What We Love about Kenna at TWO!

- She has many "terrible two" moments, but mostly has a very SWEET disposition! I'm pretty sure she got that from her me! (he he)

- She is the best snuggler. She will lay her head on your shoulder almost any time, especially at bed time while we sing her favorite song "twinkle, twinkle little star"

- She loves her big sister and has to copy everything she does.

-She is our little parrot and loves to mimic behavior.

- She says "love you too" and uses sign language (except instead of the correct sign she uses the peace sign)

- Her sweet little raspy voice

-Her big hugs and kisses

-Her dimples and big blue eyes

Things Kenna Loves at Two!

- Her blankees (all 3 of them)
- Teat (treat)

- Candy
-Suckers (someone got my sweet tooth)
- Stuffed animals
- Babies
- Grandma's and Grandpa
- Playing with Abby
- Playing "got you" with daddy

- Lil' bit (what she says when she wants more milk at bed time)

JULY

SAN CARLOS MEXICO!!

We were very blessed to be able to go with our friends the Mavity's, Stewarts, and Makelprangs to San Carlos Mexico this year for the 4th of July. We were kid free and had such a fabulous time. That was the first time I have been to Mexico, what an awesome experience! I had no idea how blessed we are to live here. It was eye opening to see the people. We left early Wednesday morning in Drew's GINORMOUS truck. Here are all the guys getting our visas just past the border.

The rest of the rode trip was great until we stopped to eat and I realized I had left my wallet back home (I know that is so stupid). I had taken it out of my purse in the car to get gas and didn't put it back in. I was sooo embarrassed and started thinking that I was going to be stuck in Mexico and my family would have to come visit me because I had no I.D. to get back across the border. Way to go Jenyce..... Ryan even asked me before we left if I was sure that I had my I.D (sure I do, it's always in my purse). I probably should check next time. After discussing it with Jake secretly because I felt soooo dumb, he reassured us that someone could email us a copy of my I.D. to show at the border if necessary. Anyways, we arrived safely and this is how we spent the next week. It seriously was heaven!

TO BE CONTINUED......

June

Happy 30th Birthday Ryan!!

SURPRISE!!

I threw Ryan a surprise party for his 30 Birthday. It turned out so good, he had no idea! The pictures didn't turn out so good I was to busy trying to make everything run smoothly I didn't do a good job of taking pictures. Anyway, this was definitely a lot of work but it was a lot of fun too. Thanks to Jen and Rob for letting us use their house and to everyone that helped with the food and planning and of course everyone that came making it a great party! We have such great friends and family. I am glad Ryan had a great birthday because he sure deserved it. He has had a great 30 years (especially the past 5) and we look forward to a great 30 more! He has accomplished so much. We Love You Ry! Thanks for being you. Happy Birthday

Gore's 50th Anniversary Celebration!

Ryan's work celebrated their 50th anniversary this year with a big family fair in Flagstaff. We all rode up in a big bus (the girls thought that was really cool)! We thankfully got there safely since the bus driver thought it was a good idea to text on his phone while winding through the mountains. Talk about scary! Anyways, we had a LOT of fun as a family. The girls got their faces painted, ate lots of food, cookies and ice cream, rode on all kinds of rides, sang and danced with the band, and Abby got to go rock climbing with daddy (I can't believe she did it and loved it)