Tania Long got baptized! Elder Garland and Elder Driggs (Lisa Driggs' brother) taught her. Cory Britton is a ward missionary.Georgia wanted to take pictures of her and Mary in their matching black and white clothes. Scotty loved practicing his science experiment at home. He pretended he was a magician making potions explode. He used a fun voice and entertained his younger brother and sisters. Joseph wanted to be like Scotty and became a magician, too. (The kids say "mugician" - music and magic mixed!)
Ryan shaved his head in honor of his brother Michael
Playing in the snow with Daddy was one of the best parts about Christmas break! He made ramps on top of the stairs of our deck so we could have a hill to sled down. When we lived in Missouri, we got matching jammies for Scotty and Georgia at Aldi's. They looked so cute that Kris Anne went back for a pair 2 sizes bigger. Now, Scotty, Georgia, and Joseph skip around the house singing "We are the twins!" (2, 3, what's the difference?)
Big eyes
What a sweetheart!
Pardon me, do you happen to have any Grey Poupon?
DIMPLES!
When Kris Anne was 8 months old, she wore this outfit in a picture and her brother, Kelly, who was 2 years older wore a blue outfit. Kris Anne took pictures of Georgia and Scotty at this same age. We'd hoped to do professional pictures, but pennies required us to take them ourselves. With Ryan's magic touch, we got some really cute pictures.
Natalie Day's hubby was deployed for 8 months, leaving her and her 4 kids. One night we had them and the Wegleys over. Gary was so cute with those kids. Rachel and Annabel Mayberry are special friends. Rachel was recently baptized.
Jenn Williams, our bishop's wife. Outfit from Natalie.
Mary has lots of people who love her! Scotty, Georgia, and Joseph are each so cute and sweet with her!
We had a tuna cracker picnic by the human maze. Ryan was so cute making silly sounds as he chased the kids. Giant butterfly next to the butterfly house at the Cox Arboratum. All these amazing places are free!
Our family!
The week before school started, our air conditioning went out, our fridge went out, and a huge branch from a tree behind our fence broke through the fence and crushed the playhouse our landlords had left for us. Bad luck! Ryan started working just after Mary was born. Kris Anne chose to stay in Utah for a few weeks, then join him because she didn't want to arrive with so many needs that they became the ward service project. Well, even so we had members keep our things cold in their fridges, bring us fans, lend us AC units, and come chop down the tree. Thanks! Georgia's first day of kindergarten and Scotty's first day of first grade! They were excited to ride on the school bus and Joseph was quite jealous! Georgia played "Love at Home" that morning on the piano. We meet in front of There are lots of great parks around our neighborhood. One has a track around it for the moms to exercise on as the kids play on the playground. Another one has our neighborhood pool. Fun! At the last Ostvig Family Reunion in Nauvoo, we did a Cherry Pit Spit for the family olympics. One Family Home Evening when cherries were on sale, we practiced in our backyard.
For Joseph's 3rd birthday, he wanted a yellow truck cake. He also wanted to go to the "Farm Park." We combined - a farm/truck cake. The Williams family joined us to celebrate Joseph's birthday. All the kids enjoyed going to the old fashioned candy store at the end.
Old school girls!
Looking for cows!
Still dreamy!
Surprise!
What a help! Grandma Gottfredson has blessed our lives time and time again. There was tons of packing paper wrapped around our buckets and inside our boxes. One night we filled Mary's room with paper and had a family fun night. Ryan's mom and sister, Emily, kept Scotty and Georgia in Utah for an extra week to attend the Clarke Family Reunion. They then drove them out in our van - a 4 day trip to Ohio! Joseph and Mary flew out with Kris Anne. It was a long day, but they were so well-behaved! Nursing in bathroom stalls, missing a flight, riding on three different airplanes . . . we were happy when Ryan picked us up.
No kid could be more excited about riding in a plane than this kid! Kris Anne's favorite part of the day was watching Joseph proudly pull his rolling Nemo backpack behind him and determinedly walk from side to side as he went. In his head, he surely must have felt like the bigger passengers who were also carrying their rolling suitcases behind them.