Eric Mark

So, um, we had a baby. Almost three months ago. And here I am finally posting about it. Eric Mark Colby was born May 29 at 8:23 am. He weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces (just like his brother) and was 19 1/2 inches long (also just like his brother). He is a dream baby. As in he only cries when he's hungry or needs his diaper changed, has never slept less than 4 1/2 hours at night and started sleeping through the night when he was 10 weeks old. I am seriously spoiled. Ryan and Annie were good babies, but Eric is on a completely different plane. He smiles All the time. I am seriously the luckiest Mom ever.

Myrtle Beach

Back at the beginning of May we spent a week in Myrtle Beach, SC. We planned this trip about a year ago, because even though we are close to the lovely beaches of California, I like to visit new places.

My parents came along with us which was a nice treat for everyone. The kiddos sure loved having Grammy and Papa around.

Anyway, I was a little nervous about how the kids would do on such a long flight. But not to worry, they were awesome. On each of the Phoenix/Atlanta legs, Annie had a few minutes of crying right before she fell asleep. Like, 3 minutes max. (Of course during those three minutes we got lots of rude looks from cranky old ladies. But I behaved myself and didn't say anything!)

The place we stayed was amazing--right on the beach with great pools and fun stuff for the kiddos to do. And Myrtle Beach itself was fantastic--it's definitely a tourist town, but it's very family oriented. I've never seen so many miniature golf courses in my whole life!

This was the first vacation we've taken that I can remember where I didn't feel like we needed a vacation to recover from our vacation. We did lots of relaxing, sleeping in and lounging. It was perfect! Now that we've been back a while, I'm even happier that we took the trip when we did. A week after we got home Bryan took a position as CIO with two companies that are merging, 3 days a week. Of course he's also still running his business, so we are currently in week 5 of 12-14 hour days and then doing more work when he finally gets home!

Anyway, here are a few hightlighs of our trip:

Aboard the USS North Carolina

Annie while swimming. What a cutie!

Ryan's favorite evening activity--laying on the back of the couch, playing Super Mario Brothers on the DS!

Ryan & Annie on the USS North Carolina

Bryan and the kiddos

The kids on our way home. Don't you love their shirts?

The view from our room

Grandma Betty Turns 85!

Earlier this month, Bryan's grandmother celebrated her 85th birthday. Bryan's mom decided to throw a big party and invited family from all around. Bryan's cousins from Vegas, his sisters from Oregon and Texas, and grandma's sister from Montana all made it down for the big celebration. We had an absolute blast and thoroughly enjoyed visiting with everyone, especially the crew from Vegas. Fun times!

Ryan and Annie with Aunt Melissa

A Coke and a Smile!

Four Generations

Christmastime at Disneyland

I've been to Disneyland a LOT of times in my life, but never at Christmas time. I'd heard that the lights and decorations were amazing, and since the kids really like lights, we decided a quick trip was in order.

We invited Bryan's parents to come with us, and were so glad we did! The kids loved having Grandma and Grandpa there, and it was nice having 4 adults and only 2 kids (Bryan and I even got to ride the Matterhorn --what a treat!). The weather was amazing, especially considering it was December. It was actually so warm that I had to buy a t-shirt because I was dying in my lightweight sweater!

Everyone had a ball and even though it was a really quick trip--drive on Friday, Disneyland on Saturday and home on Sunday--we're really glad we went!

Zoo Lights Times Two!

Every year at Christmastime we go to Zoo Lights at the Phoenix Zoo. The lights are really phenomenal and the kids love it (I love it, too). This year we went to the preview for donors while my parents were here, then the next week we went again when Keate and Melissa and their crew were down for Thanksgiving.

Cousins

Shannon, Me and Dianne

The girls with our girls

Shannon and Corey renewing their vows

Two weekends ago my cousin Shannon and her husband Corey renewed their wedding vows in celebration of their 15th anniversary. It was a really touching event and I was glad to be there to support my cousin. When I was young, my two cousins and I spent our summers together in the thriving metropolis of Needles, CA with our grandparents. We were all only children and these two were the closest thing I had to sisters growing up. My cousin Dianne just moved to Kingman so this is the first time the three of us have all lived in the same state. I'm excited and hopeful that we will be able to resume that closeness we had when we were young.

Cabin!

Every year Bryan helps out with our stake Girls' Camp as a shotgun shooting instructor. This year he had to be there on Thursday afternoon and they asked him to help tear down camp on Saturday morning, so we decided to go up to the cabin and enjoy the cooler weather. We had a nice relaxing weekend hanging out as a family, and the kids loved being able to play outside all day long. I absolutely love the Arizona mountains and am still amazed at how green and beautiful this "desert" state is.

Camp Snoopy!

The last weekend of April we went to Southern California for a long weekend. We thought Ryan would enjoy Knott's Berry Farm and we were right--he loved it! We got to have breakfast with our friends the Barnes', play at Huntington Beach and generally enjoy ourselves. Then there was the small issue of me killing the battery of the suburban, but that's a whole different post...

Insight Bowl

Every year Bryan's company gets a sponsorship package for the Fiesta Bowl. As part of that package we end up with tickets to the lesser-known Insight Bowl. This was the first year I was able to go (since I didn't have a new baby!) so we decided to pack up the kiddos and make it a family outing.

Our seats were in the Loge section so we had lots of room for the kids to get up and walk around when they needed a change of scenery. The weather was really, really nice and it was a descent football game. We ended up packing up at the beginning of the 4th quarter to head home, but it was a fun day and we enjoyed getting to spend the day together.

Christmas!

The flag cake for Jesus' birthday (at Ryan's request)

Uncle Perry reading "Red Ranger Came Calling" on Christmas Eve

Christmas morning in our matching PJ's

A few days before Christmas, I asked Ryan if he remembered why we have Christmas. His response? "For bicycles?" "No honey," I reminded him, "we have Christmas to celebrate Jesus' birthday." "Mommy, Jesus needs a birthday cake," he replied. "What kind of cake?" I asked. "A flag cake." I have no idea where he got that idea, except that he loves flags and always points them out. Anyway, a couple of days later we were talking about baby Jesus and Ryan again brought up the flag cake. At his age, it's hard to know exactly what he understands but he obviously associates birthdays with birthday cakes, so I decided we'd go with the whole flag cake thing.

Christmas Eve was really fun. We invited our friends the Kastanis' and the Albertsen's over for lasagna and we read "Red Ranger Came Calling" and watched A Wish for Wings that Work. These are both Kastanis family traditions that they shared with us a few years ago, and they have become part of our tradition now as well. That night we opened our Christmas PJ's before heading to bed. Christmas morning the kids let us sleep until 8:30. We got up and Ryan was SO excited to find the bicycle he had asked for from Santa. Annie fell in love with her wagon and stayed in it all morning. I'd help her open a gift then she'd sit in the wagon and play with it for a while. It was really cute. Later that afternoon we headed to Bryan's parents for steak and crab legs with the whole Colby clan, and later headed home for a relaxing evening.

Overall it was a wonderful Christmas, definitely our best yet. We hope you had a very Merry Christmas as well!

Polar Express!

Visiting with Santa in our PJ's

Ryan playing with a toy train while waiting to ride the real one

Bryan and his older brother Troy

Headed to the North Pole

A-bear enjoying a chocolate chip cookie on the train

If I had to describe Bryan's parents in one word, it would be generous. This year they decided that it would be fun to take all of the grandkids (and their parents) who were here in Arizona on a trip on the Polar Express. We drove up to Williams where we took the Grand Canyon Railway to the North Pole. There we saw Santa's workshop and his elves, and he boarded the train and proceeded to give all of the kids their own big jingle bell. During the train ride we also had hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies and sang Christmas carols. At the train station we took pictures with Santa and visited with Mrs. Claus. It was a really fun experience, and Ryan had a ball with his cousins. Our kids were a little young to really get what it was all about, so we figure when Annie is four, we'll probably take them back again.

In any case, it was a wonderful trip and we had a great time with Bryan's family (though we did miss Teri, Alex and Maddie). Thanks Grandma & Grandpa for a fun and memorable experience!

Salt Lake Temple

Earlier this summer we decided it would be a fun tradition to start going somewhere to see temple Christmas lights every December. This year we chose Salt Lake. I was super excited--I have a hard time getting into the holiday spirit when it's 70 degrees out. We didn't have to worry about warm weather--we got in Friday night and it was cold and crisp. It snowed for the majority of Saturday, and Sunday before we went home it was frosty cold. We had fun visiting the temple grounds, shopping, riding the light rail and generally taking everything in. The kids weren't big fans of the hats and gloves and general bundling up, but once they started getting cold, they didn't seem to mind. It was a wonderful weekend and a good reminder that as much as I don't always love the warm weather of Arizona, you never have to shovel sunshine!

Pumpkin Patch!

Last night for Family Home Evening we took the kiddos to the Pumpkin Patch. Last year we went to Schnepf Farms, but it was a little much for kids as little as ours. This time we went to a patch really close to our house, and Ryan had a great time! He got to decorate his own little pumpkin, go on a hay ride and of course play with all of the pumpkins. This year Ryan is obsessed with pumpkins, so he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

San Diego

When Ryan saw Bob, he ran right up and gave him a hug!

Getting ready to ride the train at Balboa Park

Ryan and Rachel playing soccer in the park

Miss Annie, being her sweet self

A couple of weeks ago we did our annual long weekend in San Diego. It was absolutely wonderful to get out of the 115 degree heat and enjoy some time outside! So here's the Cliff Notes version of our trip:

Drive to San Diego. Go to Legoland. Go to Sea Life. Go to Rockin' Baja Lobster. Go to bed. Do a session at the San Diego temple. Go to Balboa Park. Ride the train in Balboa Park. Watch Ryan and Rachel play soccer in Balboa Park. Relax at the hotel. Eat super delicious pasta at Bella Pizza. Buy San Diego t-shirts. Buy salt water taffy. Walk around Old Towne. Pack. Drive home.