Merry Christmas to Everyone!!!

We want to wish all our friends and family a

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

With Love from

The Bryce Family

Bryce Family Pictures - 2009

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our Bryce Photo shoot. Our kids didn't pose and smile like I'd have preferred, but someday I'll look back and laugh at the silly faces they have here - at least that's what I'm told. :) So here they are, silly smiles and all.

The Bryce Family

All of Us

Mom & Dad

with all their Boys

Mom with her Girls


Our Family


Ragan and I

He's so HANDSOME!!!!

Ragan with Lainie

Daddy's Girl!


Lainie and Mom

Don't think we are playing favorites with Lainie - yes, she is our little princess, but as soon as group photos were done, the boys disappeared to who knows where. I'm sure you can tell by her face that she is just thrilled she stuck around.

Bryce Family Pictures

We did family pictures with Ragan's entire family - 26 people in all. It was a fun and crazy time for all. I'll post some of the professional pics once I get them, but I wanted to post some cute ones we took while we were standing around.

Ragan and Lainie


Nash, Jacob, Logan, and Lainie

I loved Lainie's expression in this one.

Our little princess.

I love this picture of Lainie.

She looks so sweet.

More to come soon, hopefully.

Pima Turkey Trot 5K

I did it! I ran the Pima Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning. It was "fun" in it's own way even though it seemed a lot further than 5K and involved running through sand, rocks, asphalt, and all sorts of lovely terrain. My goals were to run the whole way, no walking or stopping, and not do anything to embarass myself, like puke or trip. I obtained both goals and beat my training time at 31 minutes, 35 seconds.

Here are some pics:

Nathan, Sonda, and I freezing before the race.

The wind was terrible and very cold!

The Start of the 5K

Nathan and Sonda coming to the finish.
They both placed in the top ten for their age group in Men & Women.
Way to GO!!!!

I'm almost to the finish line. YEAH!!!!

I got 23rd out of 41 for our age group in the Women's.

I felt pretty good about it overall and I am glad that I did it.

Too Funny - I Had to Share

Ragan sent me an email this morning and I had to share it so everyone could have a laugh.

How Pumpkin Pies are Made

Hope you all had a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Trick-or-Treat, Smell my Feet. . .

Give Me Something Good to Eat!

(They got it and then some this year.)

Friday night was our ward's Trunk-or-Treat Party complete with popcorn and cotton candy machines, fun games, cake walk, pictures, and that's on top of all the candy. We had a lot of FUN!

Here are the pics before the ward party:

Darth Vader

a.k.a Nash

Bumblebee
a.k.a Logan

The Good Witch

a.k.a Lainie

With her hat

Logan, Lainie and Nash ready to go.

Jacob was unable to participate this night.

Halloween Night - all the kids got dressed up and we went out to Trick-or-Treat. We saw one of the boys' friend, so we tagged along to all the good houses since I don't know where anyone lives here yet.

Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, The Good Witch, Darth Vader

(Logan, Jacob, Lainie, Nash)

Jacob was so excited to go out tonight.

Back of Lainie's costume.

"Cheese"

She had a lot of fun for her first official Halloween.

She would just hold out her bucket until they put the candy in it and then smile at them.

A few people even got a "HI" or "Thanks" from our shy girl.

Checking out what they got.

Next morning, as usual, the candy sorting began and then the swapping.

Happy Halloween!

Yeah It's Over!!!!
(Not my favorite holiday - by far)

Just Chillin'!

It has been a lot of fun just having Logan and Lainie at home during the day. I almost don't know what to do with myself most days since Lainie still takes a nap and I can actually get stuff done and a little organized. When I don't feel like cleaning, I always get to spend more time with my Logan and just hang out. Logan and Lainie have a lot of fun together too! Here are some cute pics of them just chillin' while watching cartoons.

They didn't know I had the camera yet.

Laying on the coffee table watching cartoons.

They saw the camera.

Our sweet girl.

Logan tickling Lainie.

Nice and quiet moments like this don't happen too often around here. :) That's why I capture it on "film" for proof and to remind myself that they are not always terrorizing one another.

Utah Trip for Fall Break

The boys had their Fall Break this past week, so we decided to go to Utah for a "scouting trip" to see what area we want to live in.

So, our trip began last Sunday at the crack of dawn. We went via Vegas and saw the Hoover Dam. The boys loved it!!! The bridge they are building is incredible - of course with Ragan in construction we may get a little more excited about cool structures than most people.

Hoover Dam

The Bridge

Our trip continued through Vegas on up past Salt Lake to my Mom's house after a 13 plus hour trip .

Monday came bright and early and we began our "scouting" process. Got a map, picked a area and drove around most of each town's neighborhoods, marking off the streets as we went. We checked out Herriman. Riverton, Bluffdale, and a little bit of Lehi and American Fork.

Tuesday was the same but my Mom took pity on our boys and watched them while we drove around all day - checked out Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain, Lehi, American Fork, Highland, and Alpine.

On Wednesday Ragan flew back to Phoenix for meetings so the kids and I spent the day playing and shopping with my Mom and sister, Nancy. Started off visiting one of the stores my sister works for, "From Our Home To Yours." Oh my!!! I had so much FUN in this store - I could have spent a fortune - they had such cute crafts and decor!!! I had total self control and got a cute crochet hat and a bow for Lainie and some Salt Water Taffy for the rest of us - my favorite! Once I move up there, I plan on spending more time and money getting cute items to decorate my house. So excited!!! Next got some yummy bread from Great Harvest - Cinnamon Burst and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip - can you say YUM!!! Ate lunch. Did some shopping at Kohl's then headed to Tai Pan Trading and did more fun shopping. I got some very cute Christmas decorations - I can't wait to start decorating with them. What a FUN Day!!!!

Thursday, we loaded up the kids once again and decided to check out a few more areas in the towns we really liked. Holy cow I felt like an old woman, my hips were so sore from all the sitting and driving. But we narrowed it down to several neighborhoods in several towns.

Friday, we decided to make this a fun day before we start the grueling drive back the next day. We went to Thanksgiving Point's Scarecrow Festival. It was such a fun day. The kids went on numerous inflatable slides, played games, ate yummy food and treats, and we got to see some of my cousins and aunt and uncle. It was a very fun time!!!

Nash

Jacob

Logan - little daredevil

Lainie - wearing her new bow.

The boys on the "Tower of Terror"

Lainie playing with the "Caution" tape waiting for the boys.


The Bryce Family
This pumpkin weighed like 653 lbs.
It was huge!!

This trip was fun, exhausting, and very productive! It was good to see my mom, Nancy and family, Aunt Faun, Uncle John, and Tiffany and family. We apologize to anyone we didn't get to see - it was such a crazy trip with so much to do, we didn't get to see everyone we would have liked to. The good news is we've narrowed down where we want to live, so that when we do get a realtor we can be very specific about where we want a house.

We are so excited to move up there, especially now after being up there and enjoying the beautiful Fall weather. We couldn't have asked for better weather!

On Saturday, we left so early there were still stars in the sky. We decided to take a different route home - if you know the Bryce's this is not unusual - always try a new road. We went through Kanab, through the Kaibab Forest and on to Flagstaff, then home. It was a beautiful day with lots of great scenery and 14 fun hours in the car(Heavy sarcasm). Final miles after this trip was just over 2000. The Beast did great for it's maiden voyage with the Bryce family. Even though we had so much fun - It's always good to be home!

Hair Days

It's all about the hair these days at our house.

Nash and Jacob had "Spirit Week" at school last week and one day was "Crazy Hair Day." Here are the results of our boys with crazy hair - as crazy as it can get when it is this short.

Nash's was mussed on one side, the other side was little spikes.

Jacob's was just as messy as can be all over.

With the help of a ton of hairspray and gel it lasted all day!

Jacob was being such a poser here.

Tried a new hair do for Lainie today - did it real quick so there are a few fly aways but I like the general idea of the top knot thingy - whatever you call it.

Don't know why she's got the pirate eye thing going on, but she wouldn't sit still for pics so this was the best front shot I could get.

It stayed in all of 5 minutes. Hey, at least I'm trying.

P.S. I Love You

Ragan went hunting with all his brothers and dad this past weekend. So, I figured since he was going to be having a fun guy weekend, I would treat myself to a few fun girl nights while he was away. I watched chick flicks every night after I got the kiddos to bed and ate fun food like brownies, Dr. Pepper, and whatever the heck I wanted without worrying about calories for once. I laughed and cried during my movie selections and stayed up late. It was a nice little holiday for me. I just have to say that I LOVE the movie, "P.S. I Love You!" I watched it two nights in a row, downloaded the soundtrack onto my iTouch and now want to buy the DVD. I've seen it before, but it was just better this time around - don't know why.

Anyway, this is just my little blurp about a great movie! I highly recommend it! Have some tissues handy and enjoy some chocolate as you watch.

15 Years Ago. . .

. . . Ragan and I were both in our first year at Eastern Arizona College and in the beginning of our relationship. So many wonderful memories - rollerblading, college dances, institute devotionals together, shooting guns, holding hands, first kisses. We've made so many good memories over these past 15 years, I look forward to making many, Many, MANY more with him.

Love YOU Ragan!!!

Valentine's Dance

Wow we were young!

(Reading my old college journal brought about this stroll down memory lane.)

October is Here!!!

October is here and boy is there excitement in our house.

The countdown for Halloween has begun for our kids,

so I thought I'd get in the spirit of it all with

this background.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Lainie's got a new do!

As many of you know, I was never real girly growing up. I loved to run around and play sports with my older brothers - I was a tomboy plain and simple. I met Ragan in college and he called me "Farmer Brown" because I dressed in such baggy boy clothes (my maiden name is Brown). So I started to get more girly but was never quite as up on styles and hair stuff as most of my friends.

Okay, so jump ahead 15 years and now I have a girl of my own after having three great little boys and I find myself trying not to continue the lack of girly stuff in Lainie's life as I did with mine. Thanks to my many ABQ friends, they got me started with tons of cute girl clothes and a load of bows and such. Ragan's mom is continually buying Lainie cute girly things too. So, this past week I decided I have to try new things and found a hair blog with the cutest style for little girls with short hair and I tried it. So, long story short - I tried a new style and I think I did "OK" for my first try. We are keeping her hair short in back while we wait for the sides to finally grow in and catch up, so I have limited choices.

Here are pics of my first attempt with the new do.

Front shot.

Here it is from the top.

SO, ANYONE out there with more ideas of where I can learn about the girly stuff for my daughter's sake I'd appreciate your help.