2009 Books

Here's a brief recap of the books I read in 2009. You'll find I'm not a picky reader and I'm entertained by the majority of the books I read. So here goes...brief...very brief.

* The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Spear (December Book Club book. Liked it a lot. Not much depth but worth a quick read. I'm a fan of books written for the younger crowd. I've heard some of her other books are great, too.)
* Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns (November Book Club book. Enjoyed it. Would recommend it. Made for great discussion at book group. This was one of those night where no one wanted to leave, we were all comfy, and the talk just continued on (book talk and life talk). Good book for book groups.)
* The Second Sun by Chris Stewart(Part of The Great and Terrible series. Makes me think about my life, where I came from, and what I should be doing on this earth. I just can't seem to get through the entire series, though. Maybe in 2010!)
* Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss(October Book Club book. A punctuation book that made me realize I don't know much about punctuation!)
* Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins(Sequel to Hunger Games. Very good. Definitely recommended.)
* Masquerade by Sierra St. James(September Book Club book. Don't read it...)
* The Actor and The Housewife by Shannon Hale (Love Shannon Hale. (Goose Girl will forever be one of my favorite books.) Mixed emotions about this book. I cried. A lot. But it was super cheesy--almost uncomfortable at times.)
* The Pelican Brief by John Grisham (August Book Club book. Not much to say. Not really my type and felt really old school.)
* Where Angels Fall by Chris Stewart (2nd book in The Great and Terrible series. Very good.)
* The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (Entertaining quick read. I think I was distracted while reading this and quickly forgot about it after I was done. I liked it though.)
* Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale (Cute, easy read.)
* The Brothers by Chris Stewart (July Book Club book. Loved it. The first book in The Great and Terrible series.)
* Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen (June Book Club book. Made me want to do more with my life in regards to helping the less fortunate. Interesting read.)
* Hearts In Hiding by Betsy Brannon Green (Fun, innocent, clean mystery book. This author was recommended at a book club discussion because we rarely read mysteries. So I checked this out at the library and enjoyed it.)
* Don't Close Your Eyes by Betsy Brannon Green (Another fun, innocent, clean mystery book.)
* The Last Promise by Richard Paul Evans (May Book Club book. Easy read, cheesy.)
* A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (Worth reading.)
* The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad (April Book Club book. This book brought some emotions out of me. I think it made me too upset to enjoy the book. Is life really like that in Kabul??)
* Fablehaven 2 by Brandon Mull (Better than Fablehaven 1. Fun.)
* Fireproof by Eric Wilson (Cheesy but fun. I even rented the movie after I read this.)
* Fablehaven by Brandon Mull (March Book Club book. Obviously written for the young crowd.)
* The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR!!)
* History of Joseph Smith by His Mother by Lucy Mack Smith (February Book Club book. Lots to learn about Joseph Smith. Interesting insights into his family.)
* Gift From the Sea Anne Morrow Lindbergh (January Book Club book. Made me want to go to a beach house for an extended period of time. It was an okay book. The author was obviously going through a rough time in her life which brought about this book. It kinda has a depressing feel to it.)
* The Host by Stephanie Meyer (Liked this a lot. I love when big fat books are quick to get through cause you don't want to put them down!)

There you have it. Now I'll get reading for 2010!!

Preschool is so Cool!

Rylan has done some really cool things in 'preschool' this year. It's once a week for an hour and a half. The moms all stay with the boys (there's 5 of 'em) and the little siblings come along for the ride (there's 5 of them, too!). The mom's host and we just switch each week, choosing our own topics. Some weeks the boys are great and attentive, other weeks they are wild and energetic--typical of three year olds I presume! We've had lessons on the 5 senses, the primary colors, fish, Thanksgiving, winter time, fall and leaves,...the list goes on and it's always so creative and FUN!

Just before Thanksgiving Mindy hosted and the boys had pilgrim hats to wear while they pretended to sail across the ocean in a big box.

Then they decorated Indian attire to wear while they ate a snack from a cornicopia (waffle cone...so cute!). I'm not politically correct I guess, but saying "The pilgrims and Native Americans" just doesn't feel right. Maybe I should practice that.


Just before the New Year they learned about, well, the New Year! Calendars and days of the week were reviewed and an early New Year's Eve party was thrown. They made their own confetti and 2010 glasses. HA! I love it!
Can't wait to see what next year brings for preschool!

Sandy Boys Party

Johnny, Kevin, Brad, Ben, Mark, Rylan, and Kyle...and no, Ry is not picking his nose!

These boys aren't quite as innocent as they look. When they get together and start talking about the good ol days, stories flow freely without regard to the wives in the room.
Ben and Heather came into town and Brad and Rachel offered their home for our annual Christmas party. Kevin loves getting together with his old pals and every time we leave we wonder why we don't hang out with that group more often. It's always so good to see Heather and just to be able to hang out. They need to move back to Utah but I'm afraid they never will. Looks like we need to take a vacation out to California soon!

Asher (14mo), Andrew (8mo), Brock (14mo)

Rylan and Kyle who share the same birthday!

We had a white elephant gift exchange, snacks, talk, and lots of laughs. Such a fun night! (I stole most the pictures from Heather :)

Merry Christmas!!

On the 1st of December we had made a little Christmas countdown chain with Rylan's preschool friends. I explained it to Rylan several times that we needed to cut off one link each day and when we had cut them all off it would be Christmas. I can't even tell you how many times he asked if he could just cut them all off so it would be Christmas 'today'. All month long he was soooo excited for Christmas!

It was a very relaxing morning. Asher woke up close to 8:00 and while I was nursing him Rylan woke up and came into Asher's room. Ry just played in the room and asked 'is today Christmas?'. Yes! It's finally here! I don't know if he even thought about Santa coming and bringing him a present so we just hung out in Asher's room for a bit. Kevin went downstairs and set up the video camera and turned on the Christmas tree.
The boys and I walked downstairs and Ry was a bit hesitant at first. I encouraged him on, pointing out that Santa came. He eventually made it over to his new toys. Remember how much Ry wanted a car transporter...and then decided he wanted a race track instead? Well Santa brought him a car transporter and he loved it! He immediately started playing and paid us no attention. To be fair, Santa also left Asher some cars which he cared little about!

This may just be my favorite picture of the day. We gave Ry a bike for Christmas and I think Asher may have been happier about it than Ry!

While the boys were playing I got breakfast going and in the oven. Then it was present time!!


Yea! Rylan got a race track. He acted excited and wanted to help Kevin put it together. He played with it for a bit and later told Kevin that it wasn't the one he wanted. This one has a shark and he wanted the race track with a dinosaur...so sad. We actually knew this wasn't the one he wanted but it was the only one we could find so we were hoping he'd be fine with it. And he and Kevin have had lots of fun with it so I don't think he's disappointed about it any more!
A Kitchenaid!!
And a new camera!! Holy cow I was spoiled this year! Kevin also gave me a drying rack so I don't have to drape our clothes all over the house and some blinds for the kitchen (which I didn't really know I even wanted but they have seriously been so nice! He even hung them up all by himself!!!) I was totally lame and didn't take any pictures of Kevin opening his lame presents...he should have given me my camera first so I could of played around with it and taken pictures of him.
After breakfast we relaxed some more and just enjoyed the day. I was loving the no stress feeling...we had several hours till we were getting together with my family and I didn't have anything I had to get done. It was so nice!
After Asher took his nap we snapped a quick Christmas 2009 family picture (in front of those darn temporary blinds...goal for 2010, get real blinds before Christmas!), and then headed over to Tami's house for dinner, presents, and family fun.

Dinner was delicious, as always, and since I ate way too much the rest of the evening was spent vegging on the couch. I did play a song or two of The Beatles on Rock Band. Kevin and Garren rocked it out, singing at the top of their lungs when they got the mic, until the little boys somehow took over and kicked them off.







Yea for another fun Christmas! It really was one of my favorite Christmases ever. Such a relaxing day filled with joy and family, and really, that can't be beat!

Christmas Eve

It's become tradition to go to breakfast to celebrate my mom's birthday which is on the 24th. This year we went to IHOP. On our summer vacation to Niagara Falls we ate at IHOP one morning for Sydney's birthday. My parents mentioned how delicious the stuffed french toast was so I ordered it and enjoyed every single bite! Starting my day out loaded with sugar makes me want to sleep the rest of the day so I usually avoid it. But I gave in and again, I enjoyed every single bite of that stuffed french toast. It was so totally worth it!! When can I go back for more??


Later that day I caught a moment that just shows how much Rylan loved his daddy being home during the days. Kevin had mucho time off work the month of December and we all loved it!

This is just a random picture. I was trying to take a picture of Rylan because for some reason he looked so super cute. This is pretty much what happens when I try to take his picture; he hides in some sort of way.

Later that night we got together for cake and ice cream for my beautiful mama! Wouldn't it be rough having your birthday on Christmas Eve? We try to make it special in some sort of way. Maybe in 2010 we'll have to have a big celebration for her half birthday!!

When Ry was just a baby I read an article/interview of a well known author (so well known I've forgotten who it was!!). This author said that every year on Christmas Eve their gift was a new book and this, of course, was one way his parents showed the importance of books and reading. I thought it was such a good idea that we started that tradition and I think it's fun!

Notice our temporary paper blinds? Yeah, they've been temporary for three years now...

Ahhh, time for bed...Santa's gonna be here soon :)

Mischief

With two boys I know this is just the beginning. I'm sure there will be lots more spilled spaghetti in our future...
At least Asher owns up to the fun they had...see Ry trying to get away like he had nothing to do with it? Ahhh, boys are so fun!

Doyle Style Christmas

This year we celebrated Christmas with the Doyle fam at Mark and Angie's house...and it was perfect! Our party was on the 23rd, we had the traditional fondu for dinner, read the Bible story, sang Christmas carols, exchanged gifts, talked, laughed, and had a seriously good time.

Doesn't every round of Christmas carols need some sort of air guitar?



Matt gave us a spiritual Christmas thought from the Book of Mormon and then we read passed around the Bible to read the story of Christ's birth.
Even the kids joined in, and really, is this not one of the best pictures ever??!!
Asher had lots of fun ripping the wrapping paper off of his gift from Adam.
A blanket!! Adam picked out the material himself and seriously, Asher loves it. He points to the dogs and say "duh....duh...". Funny!


Rylan tried to say thank you to Oliver by hugging him. It was not appreciated!!

John gave Kevin a BYU sweatshirt and this super cool soccer player sculpture he made out of paper clips. Awesome!! Angie gave me a set of stainless steel mixing bowls which I've been wanting for a long time but never felt like spending the money on 'em. And I love 'em!!

Poor Gabe. Good thing he's so cute :)
Rylan, as well as a good portion of all the other kids, loved this mini tramp. I'm pretty sure it was constantly in use. I was even tempted to try it out!