The Ririe Report

I am finally getting Thanksgiving pictures up for this year. This year we were able to have Thanksgiving at our new home. My parents didn't feel like traveling to see anyone else so they came over and joined us. Shaun and Holly and the kids went to Idaho. we tried to invite friends over but everyone else had plans. It was just a small enjoyable day. It was also my first time making a turkey and Mitch and I were determined to make it moist and yummy. We put it in brine over night, and cooked it in a turkey bag with sausage smothering it. It turned out very delicious if I do say so myself. Since it was just a small group we didn't have tons of food. my Mom made sweet potatoes and pies. I made the turkey and mashed potatoes and jello/pretzel salad. We also had rolls. It was yummy. I'm hungry just thinking about it:
Since we were also in our own house, we decided to break out the fine china for the first time. It was a very relaxed, enjoyable Thanksgiving. We have much to be grateful for this year!

This little cutie:
is now 9 months old! I don't know where it has gone but we are loving our little Nate. Here are his 9 month stats:

Height: 29.23 inches (75th percentile)
Weight: 19 lbs. 6.4 oz. (25th percentile)
Head Circumfrence: 18.31 inches (another 75th percentile)

So we have a tall, skinny, smart boy. Nate is super fun. It seems he is always happy and is quick to smile. He LOVES his big brother to death. Eric can always get him to laugh. Nate's favorite thing is chasing Eric around. He loves food and could eat all day if I fed him all day. He can stand on his own but will not walk. He leans super far forward to fall into your arms but won't move his feet. He also loves getting baths and getting into ANYTHING he isn't supposed to, especially the bathroom and the toilet paper. He also moves quickly and gets into the garbage before I can get the pantry door closed. His nicknames are Naters, Nato, Nato-potato, etc. I can't believe these 9 months have gone so quickly!

i promise I will post this week! I need to upload pictures from Thanksgiving. I promise, I promise!

My boys like to jump. So much they jump themselves to sleep!

Eric did this same thing in this jumper too. Too funny!

My dad gave Eric some sunglasses and he loves them. He even wears them when he watches TV.

Those of you who know me know I am not crafty. I don't sew, don't spray paint stuff and make it look cool, etc. I would like to be, but I am not. But, every now and then I find an idea I like and decide to do it. I make wood letters with my boys names and added scrapbook paper and modpodge and they are super cute. Well, I have been trying to decide what to do with our family pictures. There were a lot a liked and couldn't decide. My sister in law saw this idea on a friend of her's blog. I thought it was cute so I did it and it was super easy and a lot cheaper than it could've been. And here you have Faux canvas pictures:



It is easy to do. Buy canvas's from any place. I got mine from Hobby Lobby with 40% coupons so reasonably cheap. First you paint the sides whatever color you want. I did a blue/grey to match our pictures. Then you put mod podge on the back of the picture and place it on the canvas. Let it dry for about 20 minutes then mod podge over top of the whole thing. It looks super cute. I got pictures and all the supplies for like $30 which is the cost of ONE canvas print. I did pretty well on my crafting. Thank you crafty people that I can steal ideas from. Here is the link to where I got this:

I am grateful for this little guy:


And the trouble that he gets into to keep me humble. Without him and his brother I wouldn't go to my knees so often in prayer to raise them the way Heavenly Father wants them to be raised. He also provides countless times to laugh at life. Shaving cream is so much fun!

This year was a party. Literally. I threw a play date halloween party for Eric and his friends the Wednesday before Halloween. Eric LOVED it. He wouldn't stay in his costume though. Him and his friends played, decorated cookies, and played pin-the-nose-on-the-pumpkin. It was a hit.

The Walmart home office has a mass trick or treating party so we hit that up Friday afternoon. The home office is so big though that Eric got poooped and we only hit one floor. Nate went as a lamb: (he lost his ears somewhere along the was though)
And Eric was a dinosaur: Fun not here: Mitch wore this costume when he was little. It was sort of special to have Eric wear what Grandma had made and what Daddy had worn.
Saturday night was our ward trunk-or-treat. My 3 nieces came up since the rest of their family had a dance to go to. Hannah and Aleena were Musketeers and Izzy was a willow fairy (whatever that is). I went as Little Red Riding Hood and Mitch was Tim the Tool Man Taylor. Here are some fun pics before the party:


Halloween was fairly uneventful. Sonic gave out free hotdogs and pop to trick or treaters so we walked down and got one. Here is Eric with his shades on. What a stud dinosaur huh?
Halloween night we hung out with some friends of ours. We didn't need any more candy. Plus, Eric doesn't care yet about trick-or-treating so I wasn't going to force him. Can't believe its November now. Christmas is coming way to fast!

Costume pics are still on our camera but here is Eric with his pumpkin that Mitch carved for him and Nate with a spider hat. Happy Halloween!

Alright Tiff (and everyone else who blog stalks us) Here are some pics from our new house. I was going to wait until pictures and curtains were hung, but some were impatient. So, here it is. I guess I'll put more pics when I get done with some projects for it that I want to do. Enjoy and come visit sometime. Please excuse the mess in some pictures. I am still getting stuff put in its place and it was breakfast time.
When you arrive at our new house, this is what you will see:
You will then walk into our entry way:
And see our living room with our beautiful fireplace.
To the left leads you to our extra room: (last night I almost moved Eric in so he wouldn't wake up Nate with his crying)
And the boy/guest bathroom:
And the boys room:
To the right of the entry way is our formal dining room which we are using as an office area. There are two coves like this. On the other side we have a bookcase. One day I will have a piano in this room.
And my kitchen. I can say MYKitchen because I am the one most in there
Dining room
Laundry room (love the space)
Our room: sorry the picture isn't that great. It was too sunny in the morning
The master bath
Our deck: Going to be great for all the parties we will have
And the amazing view off our deck. I love not having neighbors behind us.

I know, I know. I have not posted in a while. The reason is that we have been packing and moving into our NEW HOUSE!!! That's right. Wednesday October 12th we closed on our first home. Pictures to come as soon as I can get boxes out and things in place. Be excited. It's pretty much amazing. We absolutely LOVE it. Anyone want to come visit?

Our friend Joy took our family pictures this year. They turned out super cute. Nate wouldn't really smile, but they are cute anyhow. I won't put them all up but here are a few! Let me know which family one you like the best. I'm having a tough time deciding!

Nate started veggies about 3 weeks ago. He was funny to watch because he didn't make the weird faces. He just sat there and would let the food sit in his mouth. He only swallowed when I fed him cereal. We started with peas. I have never quite seen a baby react like that to veggies. It was funny. He has quite taken a liking to veggies though. He has tried peas, green beans, and carrots. He can eat almost a whole jar at once! Sometimes he's a little cranky after eating carrots so we might hold off and try them again soon.
Here is Nate's non-expressive face while eating veggies.

Back at the end of August, Mitch took another business trip to Mexico City. Since I have a few nieces nearby, I decided to do a girls party (plus Eric and Nate.) My friends Katie is always having toe nail painting parties and doing cute designs. It just so happens my nieces LOVE having their nails done so I got them all together. Katie did some fun designs that night. I am trying to learn how to do them for myself. They are super cute!
Aleena chose PacMans:

Sarah (with her not-known-then-but-had-a-broken-leg) chose Watermelons:

Izzy chose green plaid:
I wanted mine done too. Katie chose the design...Super cute, yeah?

Hannah chose to have her nails done in this cool marble way. It is super neat how you do this design. You actually put nailpolish in water. It was cool.

I also tried the marble nails after everyone left. Here are how mine turned out: