Riley Turned 2!!

It is hard to imagine that our baby girl turned 2 just a month ago! We had so much fun at her party and I had fun getting everything together and ready. Riley had an "Alphabet Party". I was excited because she got lots of "alphabet things" that we can play with. It is crazy to think that by her next birthday she will be able to sing the alphabet! Anyways... her banner was hung, all the food was labeled, letters fell from the ceiling, there were presents, cake, family, and friends. We had a great time.

Mom- thank you SO much for cutting out the letters and making her "abc" book. It is one of favorite things.

Mrs. Bergren- thanks for making our "b is for balls" they were wonderful!

Cait/Hannah/GG- thanks for letting me steal some pictures for this post!

Everyone: Thank you SO much for coming and celebrating Riley's birth and life with us.

Riley,

We love you so much. You constantly make us laugh and are always keeping us on our toes. We love how you have a servants heart and always want to "help". We love how you are such a good big sister and how your love extends to all that you meet. We enjoyed celebrating your 2nd birthday with you and are excited for many more birthdays to come!

Love,

Mom and Dad

December just flew right on by. Ryne and I had finals, Riley turned 2, we traveled for Christmas, attended parties and just enjoyed out time together. I have so much that I want to blog about but I find myself enjoying this extra time with my family. So... I want to document how wonderful these past few weeks have been but it will have to wait.
So, belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

I finally have a Brother!!!

That's right. I have been wanting to learn how to sew for quite sometime and someone gave me a sewing machine! -a brother :) This is my very first sewing project! It was practice for what you will see below...
Grandmother working hard...



But just for proof... I did sew as well! She was a great teacher and I am in love with my new brother!

What we are making: I was super excited to get my sewing machine because I had my eye on a project. I made/am makeing a banner for each of the kids that says "hooray for Riley (Sam)" The idea is that we can not only use it at Birthday parties but also for special occasions such as passing a test, accomplishing a goal, etc. The idea is that we can use it as they get older. I know that it might get a little cheesy when they get older and there might be some years when they say "mom, do we really have to get that thing out", but I think in the end it will have a lot of memories.

Sew, here is what we did:
I had to cut out all the letters in the font that I wanted and then draw it onto my fabric and cut them again.

We cut out squares for the letters to go on. You wouldn't believe how long it took us to make a template of a square. Geesh!

Then we used some sort of adhesive to iron the letters onto the squares.

This process took a LOT of trial and errors. However, after we finally figured it out, I loved the stuff we used!

So my letters went from paper, to white fabric, to adhesive fabric, to white letter on a blue square!

After that I cut out all of my triangles! (that template didn't take near as long)

I laid it out to get an idea of how it was going to look

Then I put a front triangle with a back triangle and got it all ready to sew!

First we sewed the squares to the front triangle, then the triangles together, then we pinned the binding, sewed and....

The Final pictures will come in a couple of weeks at Riley's Birthday Party!!! But I am SO happy with how it turned out. I can't wait to go buy fabric for Sam's!

Meanwhile.....

Riley and Sam were playing dress up. (oh and did I mention Riley was playing in the bathroom sink. Even though she knows that is a no-no, I let her think she was getting away with it because she wasn't in my way while sewing...hence the really wet shirt)

Beautiful. Love that cheesy grin.

She gave her brother some jewelry too!

Sam had lots of fun!

Riley liked to play in all the nooks and cranny's at Grandmother's house.

This was also a couple of weekends ago but I just hadn't had time to blog about it. My visit time with Grandmother was short but I enjoyed the time that I did have. I really liked sewing and visiting while doing it. She was a great teacher and I look forward to learning lots and lots more. I see so many projects that I want to learn how to do, but I guess I should just slow down a little... Thanks Grandmother for helping me on this project. I had a SUPER time with you and will always think of you when I pull out her banner.

It is crazy because Riley will be 2 in just a couple of weeks! My SamMan is 10 months old today as well! It won't be long before he is 1.

I hope other people enjoyed reading my Give Thanks posts in November. I know that I really enjoyed thinking and blogging about it. It just goes to show that we have so much to be thankful for. It was good for me to be thinking those positive thoughts. November was a rough, long month. I have to say, I am really glad it is December!

Family Photos

I have no idea why some of these are big and some are small, but here are a few family photo's...

My sister-in-law Caitlin took some family photo's of us while we were down at Thanksgiving. I was really excited to get some pictures of the kids and of Ryne and I. These are only a few of what we got but I was really excited with how they turned out. Who knows maybe they will be showing up in mailboxes soon... (hopefully)

Thanks Cait for taking time out of your break to snap some shots. We love them and we love you!

Random Riley Pics

(she totally accesorized this outfit all on her own)

Trip to Ikea

Two weeks ago yesterday I got to make my very first trip to Ikea and I am SO in love! I had been wanting to go and Hannah wanted something to do other than be at Austin College so we all met up in Frisco to do a little shopping. Riley and Sam even got to ride a Carosel for the first time at a near by mall. The kids did great for such a long day. I can't wait to go back and do some more shopping! Thanks for meeting up with me you guys. Next time Ryne and Cait will have to come and it will just be perfect!

Thanksgiving 2009

I am sure everyone has a picture of someone sleeping on the couch after all that Turkey!!

Here is Ryne and his dad after the big meal. They are so much alike...

Some more family on the couch

So, Ryne and I have started a new tradition with the kids. Each year at Thanksgiving they will each get a new set of Jammies. I love getting new p.j.'s so I may have to jump in on this next year. But here are the kids playin in the new pajamas.

Here is Sam getting his.

And Riley Getting hers

I even got to see my good friend Tamera over the break and her adorable daughter Mercury!! I am super excited because I will get to see them again in a couple of weeks!!!

Cait and Sam playin

Who knew that a Barrel of Monkeys could be so much fun? Riley and Sam both LOVE to play with this at Grandma and Grandpa's

This was the beautiful center piece after we had put the leaves on. We each had a leaf name card for where to sit and afterwards we wrote what we were thankful for and put it on the tree. It was SO cool. Way to go Hannah and Cait!

We got to use Grandma Sandvig's china. It is SO beautiful not to mention I feel so special when we get to use it.

Here is the Bergren Family right before we headed back home.

Ryne and I had such a good Thanksgiving this year. We are so fortunate to have such a great family. Ryne's aunt and uncle and their girls got to celebrate with us as well. We had such a good time getting to shop, play, and of course EAT! Thank you so much for a wonderful time. We miss you guys when we do not get to be with you. Love you!!!

Give Thanks

I almost completed my goal of blogging something that I am thankful for each day in November but I just have to face that I didn't make it. If I do not just move forward I will get all sorts of behind and there are WAY to many things going on these next few weeks but I do want to put in some quick things that I am thankful for: (in order to save time I had to cut the pictures this post... Finals are next week)

I am thankful for my Dad. I feel bad because the post for my dad deserves nothing but the best. I am SO thankful for him and for the rock that he is in my life. I love it when people tell me that I am just like him or that I look like him. My dad is incredible. When kids would say that their dad's could do anything, I always knew it was (and is) true about my dad. He is truly the jack of all trades. If he hasn't done it before he can figure out how. What some people may not know is that he is a great carpenter. He made and amoire for my mom that is beautiful and perfectly thought out. He is even going to make my kids a toy chest soon (hint, hint) He is a pastor, a teacher, a father, a husband, volunteer, officiator, grandfather, friend, uncle, protector, comedian, and one of my very best friends. (and that is only to name a few. I didn't list some of the things he has been like a stock broker, manager, athlete, etc) Some of the memories that I cherish the most were my times just me and him. We would talk together while in the truck. One of the best things he ever instilled in me was the love to sing and whistle. We would sing together on our way places and even whistle some tunes. A big part of why I am so joyful is because my father is always so joyful. I couldn't have asked God for a better example of my heavenly father than the father that I have here on earth. I am so lucky he is my dad. Dad, I love you so much. Thank you for constantly teaching me and loving me and for all the times you would hold me in your chair. I sure do love watching you hold my kids in your lap. You are the best!

I also just have to say that I am SO thankful for LeTourneau University. I won't go on and on like I had planned on, but Ryne and I feel so blessed to be here and to live in the community that we live in. I don't mind some of the "bad" that may come along with being here in Longview Texas because the "good" far out weighs the bad for us. I am so thankful that God opened up doors for us to learn here. He is SO good!

What are you thankful for today?