the risenmays

October 28, 2013

April

April:

Kenzie left for her mission in Honduras on April 3. It was crazy how quickly her departure date came up. She got her call in December and we felt like it would take forever but before we knew it, she was out of here and has now been out over 6 months! Time is seriously flying by! Things with the house continued to progress and we were having a lot of fun making decisions and visiting the job site. We met some of our neighbors and were so excited to find that most of them were in our same situation! It's awesome having neighbors with little kids, especially with boys, and being able to relate to them. We put the boys in a room together. The LOVE sharing! It's been so fun to watch their friendship really take off now that they share a bedroom. Jake and Paris were here for Kenzie's farewell and we did a lot of fun things with them. We also had family pics taken before Kenz left. It was a busy month.

In April, I decided to go on medication for my heart issues. At this point, I was taking 2 pills every day.

September 23, 2013

March

March:

Matt turned the big 3-0 on March 10. I surprised him with a trip to Denver to spend time with his brother. He had a great time but I sure missed him at home. We also found and purchased a lot for our home! We had been working with a realtor and looking at houses but just didn't find anything we were in love with. We talked with my dad and he said he wanted to put a home in the Parade of Homes that year and if we could find a lot in time, we could do it. We went over our finances and decided we could afford to build so we started the search for a lot. I went on a girls trip with my mom and sisters to St. George and when I got back, they had already begun breaking ground.

St. George was blast! I always love spending time with the women of my family. We also wanted to get in some time with Kenzie before she left. Shopping, swimming, talking, eating, what could be better? Can't wait for next year!

February

February:

More sickness (according to the pics I took that month). I don't remember a whole lot since it was so long ago! I can't believe I've let this blog get away from me again!

Lots of playing in the snow, sleeping in the car, going to DI, eating Target popcorn, and wishing that Summer would get here.

Matt's sweet Grandma Risenmay passed away and we left the kids with my parents for a quick trip to Washington. She was an incredible woman and we miss her every single day.

January

Operation Get Caught Up is under way.

I decided to take things one month at a time since I am so far behind.

January:

Lots of sickness in January. I was sick, the kids were sick, then I was sick again, then Matt, and so on. I guess that's the way it goes in the wintertime. In December I had been having issues with my heart again and wore a monitor to see how things were going. I was having regular checkups with my cardiologist at this point and trying to decide a plan of action.

Brady's 3 Year Stats

Brady is a big kid! He is so tall, thick, and just big all around. He has always been this way. He is a really good mix of Risenmay/McCuistion when it comes to his size but if you look at his face, he is all Matt. Everyone calls him Matt's little clone.

Brady's Stats:

Because I put off blogging for so long, I can't find the papers with the exact numbers but I think this is pretty close.
Height: 41 in.

Weight: 39 lbs.

Some things about Brady:

- Loves his dad. He is always asking where he is and wants to wrestle with him.

- Started preschool and is doing really well

- His speech is really coming along. We are so proud of all his hard work with his speech. I know he gets frustrated a lot but it is so nice to finally be at a place where we can communicate pretty well with each other.

- Loves to play with his cousins

- Loves to play outside. He asks to go outside all the time...even if it is freezing cold, raining, snowing, etc. Doesn't matter to him.

- Brady loves big trucks and vehicles like firetrucks, tractors, semis, buses. He is always so excited when he sees them.

- He is getting really good at eating what is put in front of him. He has been a picky kid since he turned one so we have come a long way.

- He is still a mamas boy and will snuggle with me at random moments during the day. He loves to give kisses and hugs and is such a sweetheart.

- Loves Gavin or as he calls him "Gav" They are becoming best buddies. Yes, they fight like crazy and a lot of times I feel like all I do is stop them from killing each other, but more often than not, they love each other.

- Still loves his blanket. I don't know if he will ever get over this attachment. At least he is fine to leave it at home when we go places.

- Sometimes I can force a nap out of him but most days, no naps. I wish he would but ever since we got rid of his binky (like over a year ago) he has stopped napping.

- Knows all of his shapes, numbers, colors, and most letters. He is really smart and picks up on things well.

- Getting really good at saying his prayers. Love this!

- Still in diapers...ugh! Kill me! I've had 2 in diapers for a loooong time. We have tried a few times to start potty training but he just isn't ready. Hopefully soon we can get this done. He wears a size 6 and that's the biggest size. What do I do if he needs a bigger size? yikes!

Brady is such a great kid and we are so happy to have him in our family. He has come so far with his development and we are so excited for his future. He has such a tender heart and really loves people.
We love you Brady!

Our Trip to Seattle

Like I said before, Matt and I snuck away to Seattle for a few days. It was amazing! It was perfect timing our life, we really needed this vacation. Life is a little stressful right now and the kids can be pretty overwhelming so we were definitely in need of a vacation and we enjoyed every single minute of it. We took a Seattle trip a couple of years ago and it was great then too. Seattle is such a fun city. Yeah, it rains a ton, but it is beautiful and full of so many different things. Last time we went, we did all the touristy stuff like the space needle, harbor cruise, museums, etc. so this year we experienced it in a different way. We took a lot of advice from Matt's sister, Angie (she has been to Seattle a ton) and just enjoyed the city and relaxed (which was the main thing we wanted to do).

We drove into Seattle in the afternoon and went straight down to the pier. We couldn't check in until 4 so we walked around for a while, then went to the Crab Pot for lunch/dinner. It is such a fun place to eat and the food was delicious. We then went and checked into our hotel and got ready to go see the movie "pitch perfect", which is hilarious by the way. We went back to the hotel and just lounged around, watched tv, then went to bed. The next day we got up and walked down to the pier and caught a ferry to Bainbridge island. This was my favorite day. Bainbridge island is this cute little town with all these fun little shops and restaurants so we walked around and shopped a little then we had lunch at this awesome little pizza place. It was seriously some of the best pizza I have ever had. We stayed for about 4 hours then caught the ferry back to Seattle and walked to the mall. This is one thing about Seattle that I love is that you can walk everywhere. I never felt too guilty about what we were eating because I figured we walked enough to burn most of it off :) Yeah, probably not, but it makes me feel better. We decided to go to another movie and saw "the bourne legacy." which was actually pretty good. We were the only ones in the theater so that's always a bonus. We went back home and slept a ton. The next morning we took it easy. We went to Starbucks for some hot chocolate and did the Seattle underground tour. It was super cool but kind of long.

Wow, a year later I am actually finishing this post...and now I can't remember what else we did :)

Our Seattle trip was awesome. I can't wait to go again next year. It is becoming one of my absolute favorite cities and I am just falling in love with it.

I mean, rain, clouds, ferry boats, greenery, it really doesn't get much better than that.

September 19, 2013

Getting Caught Up!

Lots of random pictures that just needed to be remembered :)