A picture story of my little sisters engagement...

Congratulations, Lash and Chris!!  We love you!!!

(I really wish we had a picture of me in my all black with my incognito baseball cap, sitting in carrabas trying not to be seen :)  )  It was so special to get to be there for the moment. 

Wrappin' up the snow pics...

I would like to order a lifesize version of this picture to hang on my wall.
K? Thanks. 

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of our little family! 

I can't believe we've got another one of these snowball throwin' boys on the way.  

We're definitely not playing boys vs. girls in the snowball fight! 

Extra member of the fam...

Meet Frosty.
He's a stand in member of the Ryan Fam.
He's a jolly, happy soul.  
We all love him dearly and have adopted him as one of our own.

And the feeling is mutual.

He loves us all and assimilates nicely into the family both collectively and individually.
 

See how happy he is?

He doesn't mind having his picture made, 

which is a requisite to being a member of the Ryan family...

And he never messes up the picture by blinking. 

For four solid days, he held on for dear life...
the fact that he didn't lose his head is a testament of his dedication to the family...
We were sure sad to see him go,
But he waved goodbye saying,
"Don't you cry, I'll be back again some day."

Thanks for all the fun times, Frosty!
 

Speaking of snow...

I never posted these pics from the day after Christmas snow.

It was dreamy :)

So dreamy, that I'll take a couple of days to post all of the pics :) 

But here's today's :)

I love every single thing about this sweet little profile :) 

And his coy little smile as he's holding the snowball...

Snow in love.
:) 

 There's just something awe inspiring about snow...

Makes me wanna sing "Whiter Than Snow" :) Which is even more awe inspiring :)

"Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
I want Thee forever to live in my soul.
Break down every idol, cast out every foe;
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow.
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."

Snowy Day in jan-woo-wary

I've GOT to get a video of Benson saying January to put on here.  He's working on learning the months from December to May.  He doesn't really care about the rest.   He's really excited that it's now Jan-woo-wary and not December anymore because that means we're one month closer to meeting his baby brother, whom he insists on naming George.

He was so excited to wake up to SNOW on Monday morning!  And we were thrilled to have daddy "stuck" at home with us! :)

He had the great idea of wearing his fireman boots in the snow, but of course, what good are fireman boots, without your fireman hat?!

So I guess he's FireSnowMan Benson.























Benjamin tried to show him how to make snow angels, but he wasn't too thrilled about laying down in the snow.. it was much more fun to watch daddy do it! 



Peachy girl-  not so much a fan of the snow...















The aftermath... 



YAY for snow!!!

Ryan Family Christmas 2010

Our Ryan Family Christmas this year was FULL!!
Full couches, full tummies, full of laughter and full of fun!



Thomas with his FOUR girls!! 



It was Ryan Elizabeth's FIRST Christmas!



Me with my THREE boys!
Things have a funny way of working out, don't they?!



Brittany won the annual dress-up/unwrap-presents/win-money game...
although J thinks he gets a cut, seeing as how he'll be her husband three months from the day this picture was taken and all...



And Thomas drew Jonathan's name in the partner gift exchange.  He gave him a basketball signed by the Dorman Basketball head coach.  A baskeball, signed by his brother...Just what he's always wanted, I'm sure.  :)  Thomas DID have a real gift as well... but we got a kick out of this one... :)



Five cuties on a couch



Granny get your gun!



And then we played a new game.  It was one I'd seen at the Windy Gap Women's weekend I went to a few months back...  it originated from the minute to win it show.... and involves pedometers, headbands, convulsions (or whatever it takes to get the highest number) resulting in family wide headaches...



But it was fun! 



And fun-ny!



And even the kids got in on it...





And I won.
Which, of course, the guys said was cheating since I'd come up with the game.
But I did not cheat.
For the record.
I won it fair and square with my awesome head banging skills.
Of which I will not share with you the video.  :)

Can ya tell what's going on in this one?
HAH-ppy Birthday to You....








Happy Birthday Dear, Jesus... Happy Birthday to YOU!!!

A few pics from Christmas at GG's

We had a great Christmas celebration at GG's!  Although, somehow I managed to miss capturing a picture of Benson WITH GG!  Not sure what happened there!  But we had a lot of fun!!

Sisters are the best!!

GG's gift selections really aided the Volcano fascination...

'Twas a very merry Christmas with GG, indeed! :)

Christmas Morning 2010

Christmas morning with three year old Benson was my favorite one ever. By far.  He was so much fun!

Here's a video from Christmas morning....



Benson Sized golf clubs.  In his boxers.
Wonder if one day, when he's a famous golfer, they'll wish we'd have clothed him for his first picture with his first set of golf clubs?  Oh well.  It's Christmas morning!  There's no time to put on clothes!

Dancin' a jig over his new firetruck puzzle...

I could break the bank buying goodies that get this reaction...

Even though Christmastime can be busy and crazy, this little chunk of time was so special and I'm so thankful for our sweet little family!  :)