Link's 3rd Birthday

Link had a wonderful Dinosaur birthday :) I made each of the kids a dinosaur tail that they got to take home with them. Most of them seemed to be excited about that.

Olive is link's best friend, she is he cute little blonde one wearing the converse :) she is a little sweetheart :)

Link got lots of fun toys, his favorite being the trampoline from papa and Grammy :) he plays on that every day. He also loves the My Little Ponies that he got from shawna's family (not Matt's favorite, lol). I also put a picture of his Mario sweatshirt that he got from his friend Bella (brown braid) :)

All in all, he seemed to love it, and he loved having so many friends over at one time :)

Happy November!

Happy November!! Ha I just didn't really know what to name this post.. We're doing pretty great!

My job is getting better each time I am able to be trained in more things and I finally got trained in one of the major things I'll be doing on a regular basis so I was really excited about that.  The people I work with are all really great and super nice so that's been awesome.  And I got my first pay check!!  

Bryce is still excelling like crazy in school.  He has finished his first phase and they actually got a pizza day because his class got the best overall scores for the phase - I credit a lot of that to Bryce because he's tutored a large portion of the people in his class.

Other random things, our friends had a baby so we go over there regularly so I can hold her :) alright, not just to hold the baby.  Bryce has actually been helping them fix their car a lot lately.  I got stranded on the freeway this week which was pretty scary.  I ended up with a huge muffler stuck under my car.. It freaked me out pretty bad but some really nice highway service people stopped, jacked up my car, removed the muffler, inspected the car for damage, and sent me on my way.  I really appreciated it and wish I could've baked them cookies or something.  They really were great.  Bryce has been called as the Assistant Scout Master.  We get to speak in church next week, which will actually be our first time speaking as a couple.  And Bryce has recently decided that because he gets home earlier than I do, he gets to make dinner every night.  So I now have gourmet meals waiting for me when I get home and even desserts.  Ha, love and miss y'all and we're looking forward to visiting some of you for Christmas!

Charley's 2012 Homecoming Dance

Realized I never posted Charley's Homecoming Pictures with her date Colten Wright and Friends

Papa and Grammy Smurf

Just another party at Grandpa and Grammy's house.
All is well with the old people. Dad/grandpa busy being Bishop and reorganizing our new ward. We've tried to sneak out whenever possible for a quick motorcycle ride weather permitting to help relax with all the changes. Mom/Grammy/Me, I'm staying busy with Stake Primary and slowly getting our home in order, and still being mom! Charley just got done with her oral surgery for her canine tooth implant; and, Ashley getting ready to move back home for a while. So never a dull moment here. We are all very sad that Mitt Romney did not when presidential election, we're in for 4 more years of bumpy road with President Obama. Just have to keep pushing along and doing the best we can!

Ross Family is Enjoying Fall

So its my first time uploading a video... But you guys that are far away need to see how adorable Ms. Ellie is! She sure knows how to brighten anyone's day. She's such a smiling and giggling little sweetie. Can't believe she is 6 months old!!! We had her 6 month check up today and the her new stats are 15 lbs (30%) and 26 1/4 in. (74%) Tall and skinny, just like her papa!

It was fun having Ellie's first Halloween. She was a cute little pumpkin! 

This last weekend we went to Logan to see some friends. We miss Logan! Jordan Howell let me pick out some new hair bows for Ellie. This is one of almost 10 that she let me have. It was hard to even narrow it down that much! They were all way cute :)

Jordan has been studying and getting ready for next month's finals. Today I had my first district screening interview with Canyon's School District. I have interviews with Jordan and Granite districts next week. The lady from Canyon's said that she would pass my resume along to one of their principals that is currently looking to fill an open math teaching position. That means that there is a chance I could start teaching my own classes in December! Crazy!!!! I'm hoping to work in Jordan School District since it would be closer to home but I'll take what I can get. :) I'll keep you posted!

Thanks for the baby bump picture Ruby. Keep them coming. And Syd, I'd love to hear about how your new job is going. And everyone else in the family.... Blog! Love you all!!! 

Baby Bump

Baby bump

Marrie requested more baby bump pictures :) which is good because I haven't taken near enough to document this baby's existence :)

So here's the pic at 16 And a half weeks :) I am finally not sick, and for the most part I have a lot more energy whig Link is most grateful for. And since I am not super huge yet, I can still do most of the things Link and I enjoy. Link talks to his baby sibling sometimes and the other day he said "hello baby, don't worry I will save you". I am not entirely sure what he meant by that...maybe he will be the one delivering?? Lol, saving the baby from mom's belly.

Matt finally finished his 2nd general exam. He had 48 hours to finish it, so Friday he was there from 8:30 in re morning until 9 at night, then went back bright and early in Saturday at 8:00 and finally finished all his exam answers (had to be 5-6 pages each) at about 5:30 pm. He looked so exhausted when he was done, so we took him to Qdoba to celebrate which he appreciated. What a hard worker he is. We sure appreciate it, and hopefully Romney will win so that Matt can get a job after all of this :)

Well, hope you all are doing well. We love and miss you all.

Ruby

Success in Cali!

Yay!  Finally I get to post!  Yes, I finally found a job worth taking!!  Thank you for everyone who participated in this fast I found out about :)  I really appreciate it and am so excited for my new job.  It is about a 30 minute commute which is more than I'd like but I don't have to work on Sundays! Or even on Saturdays!  Ha, I'll be working in a big office building that makes me feel super professional :) and we're not really sure how much of my check will be withheld for taxes here but as long as it's not more than $200.00 I will be able to pay for all our bills.  Bryce is thinking about soliciting himself in the ward as a handiman to try and make some extra money because we would really like to be able to save something but we're both just extatic right now to be able to pay for the things we need!

It was quite a last couple months so here's some updates some of you already know about.  First, I think our vehicles have hated us recently and I don't know why because we generally take good care of them.  The first pic is of our moving truck after it broke down.  It never started working again so we ended up leaving it in the parking lot and unloading the stuffed truck into Howard's truck and the Petersen's trailer which took two loads.  But we were so happy to be done with our Logan responsibilities!!  And still are so happy that stage of our working life is over!

These pictures are of the flat tire we got while moving out to California.  Good thing Bryce has no problems fixing things like this.  We also happenned to get two more flat tires once we arrived in California.  Most of you heard that story but two flat tires in a matter of 20 minutes of driving.  I told you.. our cars hate us.

 

Besides are tires suffering, our poor little hand mixer broke in our first couple weeks of living in our new apartment.  So maybe it didn't just break, I tried to use it with some pie crust dough making and it busted..  and since we tried to pack light, I didn't bring my Mix Master (which was a mistake, I will be bringing it back with me on the train after Christmas) so now we put the little metal mixers into our drill and Bryce mixes everything for me :)  It's a lot of work and I signed up to make three dozen cookies this Saturday so he's going to get an intense arm workout from that :)

That's pretty much the worst of our experiences and actually we've been having a really great time!  We love our apartment!  I tried attaching a video so hopefully that works but it's a virtual tour of our apartment.  It only takes about ten seconds to see the whole place :)  We also use the pool, hot tub, and gym all the time!

We also go for walks because it's free :)  and these are some pictures from the River Walk nearby.  It is super pretty and the weather is perfect in the evening for a nice long walk.  You can also see this bridge from our balcony :)  That was one of the selling points for the third story apartment.

Here's some pictures just for fun of a jewelry box Bryce made for me.  We just found one of those old secret book things from Ross and added some hooks and netting.  My jewelry is much more viewable and accessible now and we've added another book with all my bracelets.



And finally a little bit about Bryce, the reason we moved here to California.  He LOVES Wyotech!  Ha this is a picture of him on his first day of school.  It was a bit early in the morning for me so I took tons of pictures but they all look blury terrible like this one..  But you can still see how sexy he looks ;)  We thought he would hate the early mornings but he's had no problems getting up and going.  He gets to take his bike to school every day and is doing really great in school.   He was made a Shop Leader his second week of school (only four people out of about 50 get that position).  He takes tests almost every day and aces them!  I'm so proud of him.  For someone I have seen hate school, it is sure great to see how excited and happy he is about it now.  He even worries about his grades!  An A- would just not be acceptable in his book!  Such a nerd ;)

Thanks to Ashley and Mom for coming out to visit.  Hopefully you had a great time, we really enjoyed your company!  Everyone else, know you're welcome to visit any time!  Thanks again everyone for all your prayers and the fast.  We know we have been very blessed.  Glad to hear all your updates, love you guys!

Ross Family

Its fall break for me and I am so happy to get to spend a few days at home with Jordan and Ellie. I have a coupon for massage envy that I got for Mother's Day so I might try to use that. And hopefully Jordan and I will finally have time to use our movie theater gift card. Any suggestions on what we should see? We were thinking that Timothy Green movie...

Mom and I are making progress. One step at a time and it is looking great! Next step will be for me to call grandpa and get his help to run the piping for the kitchen sink. :) 

Ellie never stops being spoiled. She got 4 big bags of clothes from our neighbor. This cute bunny shawl was one of the cute things she got. :) She looks adorable all of the time but this was even cuter! ha We could maybe use it as her Halloween costume but I have a pumpkin jumper that I think I am going to have her wear. :) Jordan and I still haven't decided what we will be. I think its time for me to start looking through the dress ups!

These are the crafts that we made during priesthood session this year. Always fun to have a ladies night! General Conference was awesome! I'm excited to get my ensign. :) We sure are blessed to have prophets and apostles to help us know the will of God and remind us what things are important.

Thank you for everyone who participated in the family fast. Sydney now has a job! I hope she posts soon to tell us what she will be doing. We also still want to see pictures of her place and hear how school is going for Bryce.
Ruby, you need to post more baby bump pictures!
I hope you are all doing well. We love you!

LIttle Babe

We got to hear the heart beat of our little babe yesterday. It was pretty neat, and helps reaffirm that I am indeed pregnant and not just a lumpy mess {like I feel somedays :)}.

Link is being super crazy as always and saying things that crack us up all the time. He has been quoted saying "You have GOT to be kidding me" while asked to go to timeout, he has said "What a joke" when Matt kept dying on a video game, and my favorite, as Matt and I were arguing about who gives more back massages, "Excuse me Dad, mom is nice...and fragile". I think Matt is hoping that we have a little girl so that he will have someone on his side :) Link is slightly a momma's boy, but I can't say I mind :)

Link is super excited for Halloween, and we have been scouting for what we need for our costumes and Goodwill and Salvation Army. So far, we have gotten pretty lucky :) But turns out...you can't bleach everything...sigh. Some suits are just made too well and I literally could not take the color out no matter how hard I tried. So, I am on to plan B, which includes spray paint and sand paper. Wish me luck! I am sure we will have tons of pictures to share :)

Hope everyone else is doing well. Hopefully we will get a post from Syd soon about a new job :) And preferably one that she is excited for :)

Love you all,

Ruby

Frightmares

So, for some reason while I was working tonight, I started thinking about Lagoon Frightmares and it made me miss going there when we were little :) I always loved the zombie show that they had right when you come in.

Oh to be young again :) Just made me miss all of us going together. Halloween is such a great time of year. Not only has it been my favorite holiday for many years, but Link has been really excited this Halloween and he is always saying how excited he is for Halloween :) I think he just remembers the candy, lol. 

Hope you all are doing well this Halloween season :)

Link eats a jalapeno

Link was a super pill yesterday, and I mean S-U-PER pill. So today when he brought me the jar of jalapenos and demanded that he have a "pickle", I thought of sweet revenge. However, as the good mother that I am, I told him that they are jalapenos, not pickles, and that they are very hot. So he tells me, "then lets blow it off." {clever little fart} Sounds good hun, but it is not that kind of hot. It is more spicy, like the spicy chips you didn't like yesterday.

Well, he just kept pushing it. So I finally gave in and said, "ok, you want a jalapeno? I will give you one."

I chose the smallest jalapeno in the jar and he grabbed it and put it in his mouth. He seemed to like it for the first 5 chews, until he realized that his mouth was on fire. {at this point I am peeing my pants laughing}. So I put my hand out and he spits it out and starts grabbing at his tongue, and has a panicked cry.

I only managed to get a video of the last half of the freak out, but I have to say, I think it was worth it :)

The new Findley

Well, we went and had out first visit with the midwife yesterday. It went well and she had prescribed me a lidocaine cream a couple weeks ago so that I could numb my arms before going in and getting my blood drawn. I was still super nervous about it though and woke up with two massive cold sores. I hate when they sneak up on ya in the night because there I just nothing to be done once they are huge.

The good part is, we got to see the little bean and it is so cute already :) they think it is 8 weeks but my app that I have been using for almost a year now says I am 9 weeks today. I think I will choose the 9 weeks :) they changed links due date about 4 or 5 times though, so I am not too worried about I yet.

When we showed the picture to link he said, "oh, my baby sister!". So apparently he has some insight into this little bean :) we will have to see if he is right!

I am already super huge though. Just in the belly and the boobs (yeah I said it), so I don't think I will be able to hide it for long.

We are very excited, though, even with all the morning sickness and being super tired and Matt having to pick up the slack. I just remind myself it's worth it, and Matt has been awesome at helping out with the things around the house that I just can't get done. Thank heaven for awesome husbands :)

Link has been a little angel too, with helping me out around the house. That is not to say he doesn't have insane amounts of energy, but at least he listens well :)

Hope everyone is doing well!

Ruby

Busy and Loving it!!!

My two little angels sure are adorable!!! Daddy daughter time is always needed and lucky Jordan and Ellie get it all day long. Jordan has been playing Mr. Mom while I have been student teaching. I sure do miss them while I am at school but I am very excited for this three months experience and then time to finally graduate!

We of course missed our dearest Ruby at daddy daughter bowling for a stake activity but we had a nice time. I have certainly been slowly losing what little bowling talent I had. Pretty sure dad whooped us but I can't really remember the scores. I just know I was looking up at everyone else. :)

Student teaching has been going great. My cooperating teacher's name is Staci and she is really nice. She has been teaching for at least 15 years. I'm looking forward to working with her and learning all that I can from her. So far I have mostly just walked around the class helping students when they work on their homework but I have also helped go over homework grading with the class. They are getting used to having me in the classroom and I should start teaching whole periods  maybe sometime next week. Scary a little, but fun!

Crazy that Ellie is already 4 months! It seems like it has flown by and yet seems like she has been here in our family forever. We sure love her! Also, we love this cute bow that Tayvia, aka Justine, bought for her! It went great with her new outfit we bought with our gift card to Gymboree!

We spent last weekend in St. George and had a great time. It was fun to get out of town. We went to visit John's sister Mary Ellen and her family. They loved getting to play with the baby girls. We played lots of Canasta, the Wii, ate good food, went swimming and played tennis. Fun fun fun to spend time with family.

As you should be able to tell. Things are going great in the Ross house. We are still thoroughly enjoying our little cutie. School is going well for Jordan. He is working hard all day taking care of the little one and squeezing in classes, homework and study time. He is such a trooper! We love to get a peaceful break and go to the temple each week. Reminds us why we are working so hard. 

Congrats to Syd and Bryce on making it to California. Glad you are getting settled. Thanks for sending the pictures of your apartment. It looks great!

Keep pressing on Ruby. You know its worth it. :) Good thing you have that cute little Linkster to take care of you! He is lucky to have you for a mommy. And keep working hard at school Matt. We are all very impressed with how far you've made it!

Ashley, you seem crazy busy! But hey, I guess that's the college life. Just don't forget to keep an eternal perspective in all of this work and play. Love you!

Chars, good luck with school this year! High school is a blast so study hard and have lots of fun. Keep being a good example. I am sure more people are watching you than you know. :)

Mom and Dad, we all love you. Happy anniversary last month. It is quite the achievement in this world. I know I am not the only one who has been blessed by your good examples. May you have many more happy years together. Family is the best!!!!

I like having this blog so even though our lives might be busier, we should have more things to blog about! I hope you are all doing well. We love you!

I got called this week by SLUG magazine, asking if they could do a product review on my book clutches. It is kind of a big deal and it will come out before Craft Lake City so it may increase sales (if they get a good review that is!). The pictures I posted are of the book clutch I sent them for review.

I am really excited about this, and it happened at just the right time because I had been asked earlier this week by Craft Lake City if I was available for media opportunities to advertise my book clutches, but I couldn't because we will not be in Utah in time.

Now I don't have to feel to bad because at least I will be in SLUG magazine :) yes their name is weird but they are a really big local magazine in Salt Lake City :)

Just wanted to share with you guys!! Hope all is well :)

Ruby

Green Summer

I finally feel like it's time for summer!!  YAY!  Now all I need is my assistant to get back in town so I'm not working 9-5 every day..

Bryce and I put on a big dinner for all our senior citizens this summer and it was a great hit :) It was a dutch oven chuck-wagon dinner that Shelly and Howard catered for us.  I provided some entertainment on the guitar and we just had a good time.

Bryce has also been busy completing more custom paint jobs.  Here are some pictures of the bike he just finished for JJ Paxman:

I am very proud of him and we have all been amazed with his new airbrushing skills!

 

We were able to go to a Bee's game with all the girls and their dates.  Maybe Marrie will post one of those pictures...?

We went a motorcycle ride with the Green family up to Park City.  We had five motorcycles and then Howard, Shelly, and the kids in the white mustang leading the way.  It was my first time going on the Alpine Slide.  I was pretty scared because Richard (bro-in-law) had previously ripped quite a bit of his arm off going down one but after seeing all the little kids go and learning that I can control my own speed, I got up the nerve and had a great time!

We are looking forward to more summer activities to come.  Love you all!