Jared's Baby Dedication

Today we dedicated Jared to the Lord and thanked Him for the blessing Jared has been in our life!  All three kids did well on the stage.  Jared let Chris (the Family Pastor at our church) hold him while Chris prayed over him.

And then this happened...

Josh's first buck

At the last hour of his hunting trip Josh shot this buck!  We are praising the Lord for providing this deer and answering our specific prayers - that the buck would walk right in front of him to shoot!  Our God is an awesome God!

Daddy got a grouse

Well, not what he was going for, but he provided our lunch anyway.  Josh has been deer and elk hunting over the past month and he hasn't seen anything he can legally shoot.  It's been a bummer of a hunting year.  But on his way home a few weeks ago he was able to get a grouse!  The girls helped him a bit, but mostly watched.  And we had a yummy lunch!

This is from a while ago ~ the girls enjoying some frozen cider from the cider we pressed while visiting the Bonus family.

Josh has seen some amazing views while out hunting!  He captured some for us to see. 

He is currently up hunting up near Chewelah with some co-workers and will get back tomorrow evening.  We are all excited for him to come home and we are praying he will get a buck in the morning!

Cider Works

Going back a ways ~ mid-October I took the kids to the Orondo Cider Works.  They have a few animals to pet, some straw to play on and in, some old tires made into swings (a horse and a tractor), and some very yummy cider donuts and pumpkin (or "punkmen" and Vivian says it) donuts!  We had a lot of fun playing and watching cider be made from all these apples up here!

Jared's favorite was this truck made out of wood. It looks a bit like Mater from "Cars".  Jared loved driving that truck!

Love those beautiful kiddos!!!

Zip lining!

Josh and I finished up celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary on October 30th with a day out on our own!  My sweet sister came up to stay with our kids so we took the day to zip line, eat out a few times and go see a movie (Bridge of Spies - great movie and we highly recommend it!).  We very much enjoyed the day together just playing and talking about our future.

We went up to Mountain Springs Lodge near Plain, WA and did eight zip lines.  There is usually a group of eight people, but it was just Josh and I that day.  So the two of us and our two guides zipped through the trees.  It was beautiful, even though it was a rainy and cloudy day.  Normally you can see pretty far and the guides can point out which mountain peaks you see, but we could just see across the valley.  It reminded me of those "Man From Snowy River" shots with clouds all in and around the mountains ~ so pretty!

Before we started - all decked out in our rain gear and zip lining gear.

It's been a great 12 years and we are looking forward to many more together!!!

Jared's 18 Months Old!

Gosh, we all just love this kid!  From his growling as he hugs you tight, to his thumb-sucking blanket-carrying Linus side ~ he is awesome!  Here's some fun facts about Jared:

• Height: 33" (68%)
• Weight: 25lb 7oz (67%)
• Head: 48.9cm (87%)
• He has 16 teeth (four of those are just now poking through)
• He doesn't say much - just momma and sometimes daddy.  He can also say "nana" for banana
• He loves to hug his sisters in the morning when he sees them.
• He likes hugging Mommy and Daddy a lot.
• When he's tired he likes to suck his thumb and have his blanket with him.
• He is very attentive to noises, so he stops everything if he hears an airplane or helicopter or loud truck/motorcycle.  He waves as it passes by.
• He loves to wrestle!  He will crawl all over you, jump up and down on you and just flat out wrestle with you.
• He's got some moves whenever music is turned on and he likes to clap.
• He likes to hold hands when we pray and he claps anytime he hears the word "Amen".
• Thanks to the girls ~ he likes to crawl around and act like a dog or a horse.
• He knows "please" in sign language and says/motions it with the sweetest sound.
• He likes throwing things in the trash.
• He likes to wipe his highchair tray, which is good because it is destroyed by the time he is done feeding himself! :)  (See pictures below)
• When he is hungry or it's time to eat he will go to the highchair and pull it to you.
• He's pretty cute when he "exercises"! 
• He understands just about everything we say to him.
• He likes jumping in his crib. He loves jumping on the bed with Vivian.  He likes playing with his sisters and is keeping up with them pretty well!
• He is trying to give up naps.  Yikes!  :(  I still try to lay him down every day.
• He has no interest in the potty. 
• He loves bathtime.
• He likes to give high-5's.
• Taught by his sisters, he can pound-it with a "bah-la-la" afterwards (reference to Baymax on the Big Hero 6 movie).
• He does very well going up and down stairs by himself.
• He likes to eat cooked veggies, cheese, plain Brown Cow yogurt, applesauce, bananas!, avocado, bread, apples, oranges, strawberries & cottage cheese, granola, cream of wheat, cheerios, and more.

He loves piggy rides from Shelby!

He just had to be in the diaper box with Vivian.  :)

We sure love you, Jared Ryan!!!

12th Wedding Anniversary

We had great plans for celebrating our 12th Anniversary!  My sister was going to come up for the weekend to watch the kids while Josh and I went to a football game Friday night, then zip lining Saturday morning up near Leavenworth ~ dessert and coffee and maybe a nice walk mixed into all of that.  Then Tuesday the 6th happened.  Jared got sick, followed by me getting sick Thursday around 5pm, then Vivian Thursday around 11pm, then Shelby on Friday around 5am.  It ended up being a rough few days of not straying far from a bowl and lots of laundry.  No football game and no zip lines.  Instead we had: the flu, the store was out of the ice cream we had planned to have, and the power went out for 2 hours Saturday from 6:15 to 8:15pm.  Through all this, we laughed and made the best of it.  The amazing part is that Josh never got sick!  :)

Vivian by her bowl.  

Since they didn't have our ice cream we made pumpkin bars Saturday afternoon.  Then the power went out before we made the frosting, so Josh whipped it up by hand by the light of a lantern.  

By Sunday morning we were all feeling much better!  We took the day to hike up Icicle Creek outside of Leavenworth.  It was a beautiful drive up there with the Fall colors and it was a wonderful hike!  

Here's how we started the hike (and I'm just carrying a backpack)

 Snack time!

The river was so pretty and we loved listening to it rush by. 

At our turn around point (about 2 miles) ~ Jared was very happy to get out and walk around a bit.

 And here's how we ended the hike!  Josh carried Vivian and I carried Jared and the backpack.  

After carrying Jared out I had an even bigger respect for Josh and how hard he works every time we go on a hike.  :)  Love that man!

We ended the day in Leavenworth eating dinner and some ice cream.  The girls had a blast rolling down the hill over and over again.

Blessed with 12 years of marriage and looking forward to many, many more!