the brains of the family

(this was taken about two and a half years ago, but you get the idear)

this is autzen. he's five years old and soaks up knowledge like you wouldn't believe. he reads at fifth grade level-but don't quote me on that. typically every sunday at the dinner table we are informed about an animal and any fact you want to know about it. 

yesterday while chattin' in the kitchen with lindsay and ryan and my mother-in-law, auzten says something along the lines of..

"hey grandma, did you know the cheetah is the fastest running cat?"

grandma: "really?"

ryan: "what about the fastest bird?"

auzten saying matter-a-factly: "a falcon."

ryan: "how about the fastest running bird?"

without missing a beat auzten says: "an ostrich."

i busted up laughing with amazement. this kid never ceases to surprise me. i thought he'd flounder a little bit..but it was as if on que..like someone said GO! and if he doesn't know the answer he will tell you, "you know...i don't know". and then go home and search through his books or go online to find the answer and then remember to inform you of his findings when he sees you next. this kid is the smartest five year old i know. he's smarter than me anyway. :)

meet oscar

a needy, emotional wetting, separation anxiety Wreck...

ryan bought oscar right before he left on his mission leaving his parents to raise him. the poor pup was so distraught when ryan left that the vet had to put him on puppy Prozac(yes..there is such a thing)..that's when he was diagnosed with separation anxiety. haha..oh oscar.

he sleeps with us every night. whines at the door if it's closed or until he's lifted onto the bed with us..no matter if we're already dead asleep or not. upon this..he insists upon sleeping between ryan and i. (something i do not let happen). he knows the drill now. if he's in between us just chillin before bed time, he knows he'll be moved to the other side of ryan for the remainder of the evening.

Among the MANY quirks Oscar possesses one is that he has to have his morning cheese. YES. a kraft singles slice. He will whine and beg whoever is the first to wake up in the morning until they give him his cheese. Oscar also has something we call the "happy scratch". On occasion, we let oscar join us on outings that don't require going inside a public center such as the grocery, target, movies, etc... as soon as he's let in the car he begins his "happy scratch"-both paws to the rug and scratches fervently(we don't let it happen for long).

Oscar LOVES the ocean. When he joins us on boating outings he HAS to ride on the rail of the boat. Luckily, we have him on a tight leash or he'd commit "puppy suicide" and jump right off the boat going fifty miles an hour(or whatever we're going).

I will emphasize..although, he might be part of our family we do not consider him our child. he is NOT a child, even though sometimes we think he might be handicap..it's probably just that he is a puppy stuck in a middle-aged mans body.

Oh Oscar...

STRETCH ARMSTRONG!

Ryan and i happened to be in Utah for Halloween, but the REAL reason why we went was for my brother Scotty's Stretch Armstrong reunion! Scotty started this SKA band in 1990. NO DOUBT once opened up for Scotty's band and another time Stretch opened for NO DOUBT. For those that don't know who NO DOUBT is(which you should!)...NO DOUBT was how Gwen Stefani got her start. Anyway, Scott's concert was AWESOME!!! I'd never gotten the chance to see him in concert before so this was especially cool for me. I was such a PROUD little sis!

For your listening pleasure..

rockin out!

ryan enjoyed himself, but refused to dance with me..haha...go figure.

Best show of the night!

sisters with cousins nicole and natalie.

Proud of the big bro

This past weekend Jeremy finally graduated from weber state! He's been working so hard for the past few years and we knew we couldn't miss this blessed event!..ryan just said it made him more jealous that it wasn't him who was graduating..haha..But we are still so proud of jeremy none the less!!

what are the chances of the only other guy in the auditorium wearing the same shirt as ryan, to be right behind us..haha....if you look closely the kid is actually smiling at the camera..he must have known he was being photographed..haha!

we were pretty stoked for jeremy!

the construction management major got to wear cute little construction hats!

GO JER! WOO HOO!!

haha...what?

So although this has nothing to do with Ryan and my little family...it had to be shared with all who read this blog..haha..so on the way back from breakfast at mimi's (and mind you it was a 30 minute drive..plus the hour spend at mimi's..and half way back from mimi's)..heidi was rubbing the back of her legs and felt something inside her pant leg...what is it!? a garment bottom..a sock..pantyhose??...haha..how in the world did she not notice a knee high black sock in here pants?!

haha..oh heidi