Malnar Moments

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-11T21:06:00.006-07:00

We went to Utah for Thanksgiving this year.

We had a great time at Anita's home with great company, good food and watching the kids play games.

Marietta, Ryan and Keedan playing baseball.

Keedan playing golf.

He was so funny b/c every time he went to swing up with his arm, his leg would go up with him.

We also visited Amanda's brother and his family during our short visit to Utah.

Levi and Brittany Cheesing it up

It was Levi's Birthday, so we celebrated at Chuckee Cheese.

Trevor and Keedan watching balls fly around.

Keedan picked out some monster teeth with the tickets he collected.

Roar!

Keedan excited to be riding on a mouse ride.

Keedan and MaKenna riding in a car together.

Uncle Levi and Keedan painting ornaments for Meme and Pop pop.

We had a Great time with everyone!

MaKenna's First Birthday :)

2011-10-30T18:52:00.007-06:00

Our sweet little lady turned one on October 20th.

She enjoyed pumpkin cupcakes with chocolate chips.

MMmmmm...
Nummy (as Keedan says).

Crumby little lady after her cupcake.

Presents

Of course, she was not into the whole unwrapping gifts, but Keedan sure was.

It was fun to watch Keedan open her presents and then hand her, her gifts.

MaKenna loves loves this little puppy pillow/blanket. BTW her first word was "PUPPY", so this gift was just perfect for her.

Look at her happy face :)

Instantly she was giving the puppy kisses.

She was so happy!

We all were :)

What a joy it was to spend this special day with her.

More kisses.

We all had such a fun time. I can definitely wait til next year b/c I don't want her to keep growing so fast.

Diana's Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze

2011-10-23T21:20:00.010-06:00

Last week we checked out a pumpkin patch in Canon City, Co for our family date night.

Right off the bat, Keedan wanted to take home the baby pumpkins.

We went through a corn maze twice. The first time, we were in for a very short amount of time before we found an exit. The second time, however, felt like an eternity. It was dark and it seemed that we were going in circles, until finally we found an exit.

This pumpkin patch had a wide variety of punkins.

Keedan LOVED loved this slide.

He spent quite a LONG time playing on it.

Look Mom!

MaKenna wanting to crawl away from the scary scarecrow and punkins.

MaKenna's first Pumpkin Patch.

Corn loft.

LoL, MaKenna's eating raw hard corn and wearing two different socks.
Blame the parents.

Keedan making a corn angel :)

It was fun and taking home the souvenirs was nice. Two large pumpkins, two baby pumpkins and corn kernals in Keedan's britches. Fun Fun!

Can't wait til next year :)

October Fun!

2011-10-23T19:56:00.010-06:00

We went with Sabrina, Ryan's sister and her sweet little tykes to the Rock Ledge Ranch. They had all kinds of fun stuff to do. We got there a little bit later in the day, so some of the stuff was shutdown. Regardless, we all had fun with what we got to do!

This place was really pretty.

Woohoo the straw maze. This was definitely a kid pleaser.

Keedan finding his way around the maze.

Bitty finding his way around the maze.

Paxton looking pretty & having fun in the straw maze!

Aunt Sabrina and Claire happy & looking pretty!

After the straw maze and wadering a round checking out the place, we took a hay ride pulled by these beautiful horses.

Keedan & Bitty climbing up the steps.

Mommy & Keedan excited for the hay ride.

Aunt Sabrina, Claire, Bitner & Paxton excited for the hay ride.

Searching for candy.

Silly Hat Time Fun!

After leaving the Rock Ledge, we went to Garden of the Gods. This place is Beautiful!!!

The kids really enjoyed running around and climbing rocks.

Queso!

Making Elk Jerky

2011-10-16T16:35:00.006-06:00

From Ryan's previous post, you learned that he killed an Elk. Here we are as a family making jerky. Well, really, it's Ryan and Keedan doing all the work. We ladies, are just sitting and standing pretty :) .

Ryan cutting meat from the Elk for jerky.

Keedan wanted to help so, he geared up and got onto the counter.

I have to say, he's a good assistant in the kitchen 99.9% of the time.

There, all done! Thanks Keedan for your awesome help.

P.S. - the jerky was AWESOME!

Labor Day 2011

2011-10-16T15:41:00.005-06:00

We went camping at Grand Mesa labor day weekend. Many of Ryan's family members were able to make it. It was super cold the first two nights b/c a wonderful coldfront was passing through.

Man it was COLD and might I say miserable to sleep in when your not fully prepared for that type of weather. We had a fun time regardless of the coldness.

Keedan and his cousin's taking a break on a log they rolled over to our fire pit.

These kiddos are so cute!

The daytime was beautiful.

MaKenna & Ryan enjoying the day.

Keedan, Bittner, Aunt Sabrina, Uncle Dallen, Paxton and D'mar fishing.

Kenna and I just hanging out.

Keedan, Ryan and D'mar learning how to fish.

Walking back to camp.

Enter a Giveaway :)

2011-10-14T09:26:00.004-06:00

So, for those of you that don't know, I recently started selling items on etsy. Having all this free time has been put to good use! I have also created a blog to hopefullly catch most of my creative endeavors. I am having a promotional giveaway at the moment, so if your interested check me out at www.kennakee.blogspot.com for more information.

Have a Great Weekend!
Amanda

My first Archery Bull Elk kill!

2011-10-09T20:15:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm very excited! I dreamed about having a good hunt in the fall while I was in Qatar waiting to come home and I'm so excited that it's gone so good so far. I wanted to share my archery elk hunt and a few people have said that it's good enough to share, so I thought I would write it out.

I saw a lot of elk during the last week of September. The first morning I drove up to the edge of a valley and ran up to glass and see if there were any elk. It was an absolutely perfect green grass valley w/ a meandering river running through it. I thought, "this would be perfect for elk!" Sure enough, I glassed about 12 elk at the top of the meadow. So, I went running back to the car and got my bow and gear. I worked my way down the side of the hill and tried to stalk the elk. Well, there were two old cows about 15 yards up the hill posted as sentries. Eventually, I was spotted and they jumped up and moved a little ways up the hill. Well, that's when a big 6 or 7 point bull, covered in mud and light grey in color, trotted out from behind a rock. They headed up over the hill and I couldn't track them b/c there was so much elk sign!

Well, the next day I hit the same valley and didn't see anything. I drove over to a valley north of there and didn't see anything again. Well, I grabbed my gear and decided it was time to get hiking. I knew there was another grass valley that ran parallel to that one...so I headed over. As I got to the top of the ridge, I spotted what looked like a lone cow headed up the bottom, running parallel to the ridge that I was on. Once I got a good look with my binoculars, I realized it was a bull. I tried to hurry up the ridge to keep up with him, but he was moving too fast. I decided it was time to try and call him in. Well, as soon as I blew the cow call he stopped a looked in my direction. He was about 600 yards away! Then I squealed again and he headed straight for me. I couldn't believe he was coming in. After a few more calls, I headed to a saddle in the ridge where I thought he might cross and found a place to hide between to large rocks.

I kept calling and threw in a few calf chirps to make it seem like there was more than one elk. After what seemed like an eternity (because I could not see him come up the ridge from my vantage point) I was about ready to go over to the ridge to see if he had run off. Then, just like they talk about in the hunting videos...he came up over the ridge. Well, I was very excited and nervous...I had never actually shot at a bull elk! I waited for him to go behind a Juniper tree and I pulled back. He cautiously walked forward and as soon as his body was in view I took my first shot. I didn't know if I hit him or not, and he ran about 15 yards away from me and turned to me broadside. I quickly notched another arrow and pulled back and shot again. The first shot was around 30 yards or so and the second was around 45 yards. After my second shot he spun around and ran over the ridge. I hurried up and ran over the ridge to see if I had actually hit him. When I glass him with my binoculars, his front right leg was covered in blood and he kept moving his leg up and down. I was pumped...I had actually hit him. I went back and found my two arrows. The first shot I had completely missed, but the second arrow was completely covered in blood from the tip to the fletchings.

See the video of the two shots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoJhwiOgFN8

Well, I was pretty excited that I had hit him, but I knew I was going to have to track him. I walked over the ridge and then sat down to wait. Here's my redneck rant about the hunt...I was pretty excited.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnlMeez-LDc

Well, now the real work started. The bull was bleeding pretty well, but I still had to track him. It was difficult at time, but the blood was pretty red so I knew I had hit him good.

I tracked him about 2 miles down a steep ridge and then across a grass valley and then finally I started up another canyon on the other side. It took me about 2 hours to get close to him. I was headed up a narrow canyon and it was very thick. Before I even saw him he burst through the brush to the top of the hill above me. The race was on!

I busted up the hill and glassed, no elk. I ran over the next hill, no elk. Finally, after running to the top of the third hill and seeing nothing...I sat down and started to glass again. I barely caught a glimpse of him in the bottom headed back up into the Junipers. I circled around and found his blood trail in the bottom again. I followed it maybe 15 yards and I saw the butt of the elk 15 feet away! It scared me to be that close and I tried to circle around a tree so he couldn't jump up and charge me...as soon as I moved he jumped up and faced me head on at 12 feet! I was scared to death and I quickly drew back and shot. I completely missed! Then I took another shot and missed again! I think I was hitting brush that was between us. Finally, I drew back my last arrow, and aimed very high to make sure that I hit him and it hit the top of his neck and shoulder (merely a flesh wound).

CRAP! That was my last arrow. Now I didn't know what I was going to do. I pulled out my knife to defend myself and started to circle away. Then the elk turned and layed down...right on top of my arrows!

Great, now what am I going to do? Well, I waited for a bit and it was clear this animal was not going to die anytime soon. He would have bled to death, but I didn't want that to happen, so I started throwing rocks down by the elk to scare him off. It didn't work! So I tried some more. Finally, after about 15 minutes he moved about 4 feet and layed back down. Great, now I can actually see one of my arrows by his hind legs.

I circled around him a little farther and put down my bow and backpack so I could creep in and retrieve the arrow and put him out of his misery. I slowly worked my way up and grabbed and then ran back. He kept his eye on me, but didn't kick at me or get up, luckily! Finally, I circled around below him so that I could get a good lung shot. I moved up to around 10 feet and shot him in the lung w/ my one and only arrow. It was a good lung hit and he expired about 30 minutes later. What a rush. Just glad I didn't get hurt and still got my elk. Here's a video of the whole ordeal...I apologize, it's a little shakey, but I WAS NERVOUS! When was the last time you came face to face with a 600 pound animal!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7b1C7sp7Cc

Well, I gutted the animal and came back that night to pick him up. It was the most exciting hunt I've ever been on and I'm looking forward to more elk hunting adventures in Colorado. Bowhunting is challenging, but a lot more fun and rewarding than a rifle hunt! Here's a pic of the elk.

Hello Colorado Springs

2011-08-18T09:38:00.008-06:00

We made it to Colorodo Springs at the end of July after two crazy months of work work work and a rigorous day filled with cleaning and putting some finishing touches on our house in Clovis.

Thankfully, we had a house full of people helping us or we would not have been able to leave when we did. (We were kind of in a hurry to leave b/c Ryan had to report to his new base pronto.)

When Ryan got home from his deployment (the day after Mother's Day) we took some time the following weekend to go up to Trinidad, CO. to visit his sister Sabrina and her family and to do some hiking/scouting up the mountainous regions nearby.

Keedan was all about hikng the mountain.

He made it clear that he didn't need any help.

Keedan leading the way.

Spit up all over doesn't change her happy mood.

Keedan was getting cold and Ryan...well I'm not quite sure what he was saying or singing.

Thankfully, we got back to our truck in time before it got too cold!

It snowed in the middle of May. Awesome!

The scouting was successful, although, this little fella or filly was by the roadway.

Before leaving our house in Clovis, Keedan and his friend's had the right idea of playing in the pool.

Oh how I wish I had taken the time to jump in myself!

You can't see it but those two boys are butt naked. Oh those boys....they just don't have a care in the world.

After gasing up and eating some food from Wendy's we officially left Clovis at around 9p.m. on a Friday night.

FYI - the above two pic's are our red-neck pics. We were at the gas station, eating our dinner by the pump with an almost naked child. Classic!

The trip was memorable as our ice chest (which was empty) and an umbrella stroller flew out of the trailer and onto the roadway.

We stopped in Trinidad at 2 in the morning and our car wouldn't start back up.

We got to Colorado Springs around 4/5 p.m. on Saturday and the TLF had cancelled our reservation.

We had to get a hotel and lugg all of our luggage up to our room (we got a storage room for almost everything in that trailer pictured above) just to lugg it all back down the next day b/c TLF found an opening.

As of now, we are still continuing to make memories as we await the time we can move into a home. Can't wait :)

Sweet Little Bunnies

2011-08-18T08:13:00.005-06:00

Our friend's (from Clovis) "The Pena's" brought over some sweet little baby bunnies.

Hilda and Gilexi

(Can you tell from the picture that he's just a little bossy? )

They fascinated Keedan...at least at first.

He went to hold a bunny and once it was placed on his hand, he dropped the poor thing like it was the most disgusting thing in the world.

No worries, the bunny was unharmed. Thankfully, Keedan wasn't throwing a tantrum after they left b/c he wanted to play with the bunnies. I say thankfully b/c it's nice not to have to take care of an animal b/c guess who ALWAYS ends up taking care of it even if she's not the one that wanted it in the first place? You guessed it...MOM.

Check out our Rennovation Before and Afters

2011-08-07T23:09:00.003-06:00

Click the link below:

http://malnarhousereno.blogspot.com

Fourth of July

2011-07-17T17:43:00.003-06:00

We celebrated the fourth of July at our house with some of Ryan's family and a few friends from Clovis. Enjoy the pics :)

Sitting pretty!

Aunt Anita and MaKenna chill'axin.

This was suppose to be a happy cousin photo...but Keedan took his pants off and he's a bit cranky in the buff, hince the sweet baby Claire in front of him.

Yummy watermelon.

Queso.

Swimming.

Keeping them occupied with marshmallow fondant.

Aunt Meredith, Aiden & Olivia.

Dress up time.

Photos with Grandpa Malnar...Keedan had yet another meltdown.

Close-up of his meltdown.

Aunt Sabrina, Uncle Dallen, Claire and MaKenna....and a bit of Ethan.

Getting ready for fireworks. We were all pretty beat, so we decided to try to watch the fireworks from our back yard. Anita and Meredith gave the kids glow stick necklaces and bracelets and I have to say it was pretty awesome in the dark.

You can tell the siblings in this picture by the expression on their faces.

Fun fun Fourth of July!

Ryan's Office Farewell Party

2011-07-10T18:07:00.000-06:00

This past week, Ryan's squadron had a farewell party for him and three others that were and are leaving Cannon AFB this month. The lunch was yummy and to my surprise, Ryan's office closed down to have some fun at Casselland.

Ryan putting on Keedan's Casslland bracelet.

Preparing to speed off.

We rode go carts. Keedan had a blast and didn't want to stop riding the fast cars while holding onto Ryan's arm.

You can see the happiness all over his face.

Bumper Boats was my fave b/c it was HOT outside, so it was very refreshing.

Keedan was all over the controls to squirt other people. He's a fast learner!

Again, Keedan wanted to do them again but we decided to play putt putt instead.

Keedan did really good the first few holes and then I guess he just got tired of hitting the ball so far away (and so many times), so he would walk up to the hole place his ball on the edge and push it, hit it or just plain drop it in the hole.

After putt putt, MaKenna and I had a sit down while Ryan hit the batting cages and Keedan hit the mini playground.

Keedan trying to drive on rocks = needing help from dad.

After that, Ryan geared up for some paintball.

Keedan wanted to join but thankfully I talked him into just watching Daddy play.

The aftermath.

MaKenna keeping herself occupied in her carseat.

It was fun and we were severely exhausted.

Had I not been driving, I'd have passed out too. Instead, when we arrived home I jumped into the pool and was instantly rejuvinated!

MaKenna @ 8 Months

2011-07-10T17:08:00.000-06:00

MaKenna is now in the 8 month range. She is quite the character. she likes to sit in her bumbo and move from side to side when she feels like dancing. It's really cute!

She's got three teeth and likes to chew and pull on the end of her bottle, as you can see.

It's so fun to have this sweet girl as part of our family!

Oh Sweet Relief!

2011-05-22T17:34:00.004-06:00

Oh sweet relief. After a six month plus a couple days absence, Ryan is finally back home from his first tour (a.k.a. - deployment).

Life for us was very difficult at first b/c I had just had MaKenna a week before Ryan left. Trying to deal with a newborn and an angry toddler meant for many teary eyed days and longing the day when everything would just be easier. I have to say that if not for the love and help of a loving Heavenly Father that not only hears prayers but answers them, I would have had the worst six months of my life.

My family was unable to come to Clovis (with the exception of my sweet cousin Ashley that visited me around Christmas time)to help me so I had to rely on Heavenly Father more than ever. Let me tell you I am so very thankful for the guidance and assistance that I was able to receive. I also had to rely on other people who very graciously helped me by cooking us yummy food,going to the store for me, babysitting, stopping by to just visit or inviting us over for dinner and fellowship.

If I could give any advice to others who have a spouse who b/c of work has to be away from home for an extended amount of time...keep busy. The days seemed to fly by for me after the initial hard part passed all b/c I was busy with kids and working on our house.

We live in the land of promise and have many freedoms allowed to us as we live in this great country. I have come to realize even more clearly that our freedoms are not free and b/c of this experience I am a stronger patriot and all together a stronger person.

I have truly grown from this experience in a positive way. While I'm in no way looking forward to the day ryan has to deploy again, I do know that we will be alright.

Easter 2011

2011-04-26T20:58:00.002-06:00

Keedan was sooooo sooooo excited to see the Easter Bunny all morning. We went to an egg hunt on base and then headed over to the mall where the bunny was at.

We got there and he was sooo excited to get in line and wait to meet the bunny. When our turn arrived...he wanted NOTHING to do with the bunny.

Hence the not so smiley face.

MaKenna sure loved it.

MaKenna @ 6 Months

2011-04-26T19:52:00.004-06:00

This little lady has started eating carrots and avocados. She's so happy to taste the food that it lingers on her little tongue for a really long time before she manages to ingest it.

She has also been teething and has two teeth on her bottom front gums that are making they're way to be tall and strong.

She really likes to stick her little tongue out which is soooo cute. She likes to squeal and it's a very high pitched squeal. I imagine she enjoys hearing her own voice.

There's no doubt about it...she'll be a talker for sure.

Really - Part 2

2011-04-05T09:17:00.007-06:00

I cannot get Keedan to sit on the potty at all. He vehemahently protests against it.

My front door knob fell off b/c the screw came loose and I can't find the screw. URGGGGGGGGG

Printer won't work.

Water Works came out and said the leak we have is a pretty hefty one.

I can't get my pool pump to keep working.

I'm dealing with more un-communicative contractors that I have to deal with other people to find out their whereabouts instead of talking directly with them.

I have a flat tire.

Yes, I'm complaining but it feels so much better to let it out than to keep it in!

Only less than a month to go and I will be a bit releived!

Baby Sheek!

2011-03-13T16:02:00.006-06:00

Yay, a Mommy & Kenna picture.

So, for those of you that know me, know that I am ooberly excited to make things with my sewing machine. Last night, I needed a creative outlet and ended up making MaKenna a simple little skirt, a decorative onesie and a super cute hair clip.

Voila!

I have searched around different creative sites to get inspiration. The fabric I used is an old one of Henry Alexander that I picked up at a quilt shop in Roswell. Wish I had gotten more of this fabric...it's super cute!

Close up of the skirt.

Looking Sheek at playtime.

I must say that venturing into making clothing is very intimidating. I'm happy that I accomplished it and now I'm going to try to accomplish making a full dress by using a pattern.

Looking Sheek and Happy in her carseat.

Yikes, we'll see how that goes. I did get some really really cute Amy Butler fabric that I'm excited to use...so Good Luck to me ;) If all goes well, I think I'll join the world of Etsy (as in - I'll try to sale my handmade goodies).

MaKenna @ 4 Months

2011-03-07T11:38:00.006-07:00

Miss MaKenna is definitely our sunshine. She is so sweet natured and beautiful. We love her sooo much.

When Keedan goes up to her she gets the biggest smile on her face.

When she sits in her little chair in the living room, Keedan will play with his toys right next to her and he thinks that b/c she's beside him that she's playing with him.

Aren't they just so cute?!! It's nice to have Keedan in a mindset that he is loving on baby siser instead of not liking her.

Happy Birthday Keedan

2011-03-07T10:18:00.008-07:00

Wow, it's already March and Keedan is now a three year old. Time sure has been flying by. I had a party for Keedan this past Saturday. It was fun but I was bummed that it was chilly outside and of all places I had his party at a park. Thankfully, his friends still came and celebrated with us.

His party was dino themed. Yea, just like his first birthday party. I wanted to have a barnyard birthday party for him but he said he wanted "saur saurs' so thats what we did. He's a kid that knows what he wants.

I didn't take the best pictures, but here are a few of the party. The kids above are attempting to play the Dino-stomp game/relay.

How cute is he? This is Nick, he got a bit off course. It's easy to do when you can't see b/c of the big dino hat on your head.

Keedan looked so cute but saw me with the camera and started taking off his dino hat.

I had the best time making Keedan's cake. I didn't spend as much time on it as I had wanted but it turned out alright for the amount of time spent on it.

I baked two 9x13 cake sheets and then sculpted the dino out of them.

It was fairly easy just looked really messed up "literally" until the icing was on to cover up all of the blemishes.

(crumb coat)

I didn't add any details to the dino except for the eyeball b/c I had run out of frosting the night before and I didn't have time to make it fabulous. It worked out great though and I was definitely less stressed.

Lastly I did get the last half of us singing Happy B-day to Keedan. I remembered the candles but forgot to grab the matches. Whoopsie...as Keedan would say, but he still seemed to enjoy it.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-06T08:13:00.001-07:00

This Christmas the kids and I went to the Philpott's in Colorado. We had a wonderful time.

We made a gingerbread house, ate delicious food, got to catch up with Ryan's awesome family,

played with toys, opened presents (except Keedan, for some reason he had no interest until we

got back home), made fun of cousin Paxton by wearing her high heels and mocking her while

saying" I"m Pretty", made a cute craft, went four wheel riding and herded goats.

MaKenna all snuggled up after being outside. She's not a fan quite yet of playing in the cold.

Anita, Keedan & Bitner going riding.

Sabrina, Keedan & D'mar going riding.

Keedan & I not going riding. He wanted nothing to do with riding with me, which was fine b/c I was able to go as fast as I wanted. Na na na boo boo.

Keedan & Bitty herding the goats.

D'mar looking too stinking cute with the goats.

The boys after their rant about being pretty.

MaKenna @ 2 Months

2010-12-30T22:37:00.006-07:00

Wow, how the time is passing quickly. Our sweet little baby is now 2 months old.

I love to watch her stretch in the morning when she awakens.

I'm so glad I was able to capture it with my camera.

This sweet little lady brings so much joy to our home.

Keedan absolutely adores her.

Sometimes a bit toooooooo much, but at least he adores her, right?

Really??????????????????/

2010-12-20T09:41:00.008-07:00

Yes, Really! This word seems to be the word that I've been thinking and saying this past week.

Saturday 11th - Really?
I picked up my cousin from the aiport in Lubbock and we went to grab some yummy burgers from Fudruckers and then were excited to go shopping. We ended up only hitting one store b/c I was soooo exhausted from the kids and it was getting dark. While in the store and waiting in line, Keedan managed to find and open a small but expensive bag of chocolate covered pretzels. Really? Yes Really, so I bought them b/c as the saying goes - "You Break It, You Buy It".

Might I add that on our way home I noticed a truck speeding up behind me. I was in the fast lane and he got into the turning lane to pass me and crashed into a pole. The pole came flying behind him and thankfully I was able to miss getting hit. Wow, we were REally blessed during our trip home. I'm sooooo very very thankful for not getting hit with flying debris.

Sunday 12th - Not Really!
This was a good day.

Monday 13th - Really?
My cousin was sick as a dog all day long with some 24 hour bug. What a bummer to be on vacation and get sick. Thankfully she started to feel better the next day.

Tuesday 14th - Really?
I received a knock on my door around 8:00 in the morning. It was a Public Works worker. He asked me if I was doing concrete work and had it put in the dumpster. I said yes and he told me that the garbage truck couldn't pick up the dumpster b/c it was too heavy with concrete debris. He told me that he didn't want to report me b/c then I'd be fined a hefty fine unless I was to get the concrete out of the dumpster. REALLY? So, I said I'd get it out and dumpster dive, I did.

Wednesday 15th - Really?
I had a contractor start working on the drywall work in my house. I was very happy about this b/c I was inititally told they'd be able to start after the first of the year.

Thursday 16th - Really?
I discovered that the tarp covering our pool was now down at the bottom of the pool. Really??? Deep Breath...sigh! sigh!

Friday 17th - Really?
My cousin's visit seemed so short to me as I drove her to the airport. Wow, how the time flies when your having fun!

Saturday 18th - Really?
I went to buy 18 Ft of concrete wire for my "Naked Room" and was told I had to buy the 130 Ft. roll b/c they don't cut the wire for customers. Really? Deep Breath....just buy it, maybe I can sale the remaining roll.

Sunday 19th - Really?
No names will be mentioned...here's is a question that I have: "Do you think that it's okay to drop off your child at church and not give any contact info and not pick her back up when it was over knowing that I didn't have room in my car nor an extra car seat to take her back to your house?" REALLY?
UGGGHHHHH, some parents Really need to get it together and make there children a priority.

Monday 20th - Really?
I was driving the concrete mixer back to the rental place when as I turned the corner it came off of my hitch. REALLY? Thankfully my contractor was on his way to my house and stopped to help load it back onto my hitch.

Now I'm currently sitting in my recliner and trying to relax before more Really's occur.

Deeep breath, hold....and exhale.

Ketchup - Construction Just Before Baby

2010-11-10T18:45:00.015-07:00

We were feeling "the crunch time" right before baby. Here are a few things that we worked on up to the arrival of our new girly bundle of joyness.

1. Living Room Steps...putting the wood flooring on them.

They aren't entirely done, but I can live with them for now.

Keedan and Ryan adhering the wood.

Keedan very excited to be working. If he holds to that throughout his life, he will be quite the achiever.

2. Cutting Baseboards.....this job seems to be never ending.

This is so not a flattering picture. I had to post it b/c Ryan picked up the camera and snapped a photo of me. Thats pretty amazing in itself ;)

3. Raising the kitchen ceiling.

My parents were down over a week and a half before baby was due and they helped us with the demo of the ugly kitchen drop down ceiling.

Check out that lovely mess. Thankfully, the plastic stayed well intact.

Keedan helping Ryan with measurements.

The rasied ceiling. Oh how sweet it is! It makes the kitchen seem so much bigger with the added height.

Once the ceiling is finished, the fabulous pictures will be posted.

Finally...we have a baby to hold!

2010-10-25T07:20:00.003-06:00

MaKenna Eve Malnar

Born: Wednesday @ 1:07 a.m.

Wt.: 7lbs, 7oz

Length: 20.5 in.

Me ready to have a baby.

We arrived at the hospital at around 6:30 in the morning on Tuesday.

They broke my water at 8:00 a.m. and we waited patiently, then impatiently, then Halloween impatiently for baby to arrive (my monster voice manifested during the pushing stage, just ask Ryan).

Thankfully, I didn't have to push long at all...but WOW, it makes a difference when you've still got a sprinkler system. Sadly, my sprinkler system had run out of water after 17 plus hours.

An exhausted Ryan chatting with friends and family.

Keedan holding his baby siser for the first time. He has been sooooo sweet to MaKenna. It's mom that he's not so happy with....hopefully that will pass soon.

Cousins and Aliens

2010-09-12T08:16:00.002-06:00

This past week, Keedan's cousins stopped by for a quick visit on their way back home to Utah.

Keedan had soooo much fun with them.

None of the kiddo's tired of the play pistol's you see in the pic. They chased each other around the house clikety clicking until we (the adults) took them away.

(Alien Footprints)

On Thursday, Keedan and I made a trip to Roswell and while there took some time to check out the alien habitation.

(Alien Street Lamp along Main St.)

(Music Store with the added Alien Advertisment)

It's comical that this town advertises on almost every business with some sort of Alien picture or statue.

Our last Alien destination was to a souvenir shop that had an alien black light art display.

Poor Keedan was not a fan, at all. I did pay $2 bucks to walk through so I made him suffer through it.

I broke down and bought these silly alien sunglasses....I do have to say that we had a good laugh over them.

On a side note, I also bought a silly blow up baby alien that Keedan has been playing with (quite frequently might I add) and he calls it his baby.

Maybe that will be a good thing once the real baby is born, so that Keedan will learn how to take care of a baby as he watches mommy. Haha, we shall see....nothing like wishful thinking.

Oh Sweetness!

2010-09-08T08:00:00.002-06:00

Keedan is now 2 1/2 years old.....Wow crazy how time flies. He looks so sweet and peaceful at the moment. HOw O how can this sweet little fella cause so much commotion? The answer is...when mom's not around every second, he is a magnet for the no' no's :)

Incident 1 - Mom vs. Brownie Batter BanditI made some brownie batter last week, covered it, walked away from the kitchen for a bit and somebody was able to infultrate the batter.

When I tried to depose Keedan (b/c he was the only suspect) he was uncooperative.

He rolled over and began to laugh....but the proof was on his face and a small bit on his belly....Bahahahhaha.

Trying to prove his side of the situation with a lovely brownie batter mustache.

Incident 2 - Mom vs. Bubble Happy Boy

So, Keedan got ahold of the dish soap and filled the dishwasher with it. I've gotta give him credit b/c he put it in the right place and then some. Well, I was able to clean most of it out (so I thought) and proceeded to turn it on and I left for the store.

I came home to find bubbles covering most of the floor in my kitchen. I was shocked and Keedan was elated.

(I grabbed my camera too late but here is a little remnant of the mess before it was "keaned up")

I got out the sponge mop and began mopping up the floor when Keedan took interest and wanted to help. I handed him the mop and he started saying: "Kean up, Kean up!"

It was so sweet and heart warming to watch him be so vigilant at cleaning up the mess. He even lifted the mop up to the sink for me to rinse off the bubbles and strain it and then he got back to work :)

He wouldn't pose for the camera b/c he was too busy keaning to smile.

Afterwards he pointed to the floor and said with a big smile..."Kean!"

New Title

2010-08-26T07:51:00.005-06:00

So, I've finally won and I'm soooo duper super excited about it!

What have you won, you ask?

Around the first of the year, my friend had a baby girl and named her Makenna. I instantly fell in love with the name and told Ryan that if we ever have a girl, I wanted to name her Makenna.

It might have taken several months, but he has finally stated that he likes the name Makenna for our baby girl (that will be here in a month and a half or so'ish).

Now, we need to change our blog title.

Why you ask?

Well for those of you not in the know, RAKA stands for: Ryan, Amanda, Keedan & Astro.

We will need to incorporate an M and sadly lose the last A (b/c Astro is now in heaven).

Or we can just come up with a clever title that will not need to be changed everytime there is a new addition to our family.

Any suggestions?

Sidetrack from Improvements

2010-08-19T08:22:00.009-06:00

Yes, I've been slacking on my house duties lately....but really who can blame me? I've gotten sidetracked into sewing and I'm not even feeling bad about it.

I was afraid that Keedan would be a tornado during my various projects but he has been very good and seems intrigued when he watches.

Here's a sidetrack from the point of my post.....here are some super cute pics of Keedan trying on some of Ryan's gear last night.

And other cute pictures of last week when some of his cousins were here.

Heading out to to the pool.

Attacking D'mar with bubbles.

OKay, back to the reason I"m blogging.

I've been working on decor for the baby's room. So much fun!

I think making all this stuff has gotten me even more excited about having a girl.

So here's what I've got so far.

Here are just 3 of the 7 mini dresses I sewed together yesterday. I added little belts to them so far but they still need some embellishing. I'm going to string these little dresses on the outside of the crib like a clothesline (with clothespins too). I haven't decided if I want to paint the clothespin's or leave them natural. We'll see.

Here is the fabric for the curtains I'm making. I'm not quite done, ran out of thread, but next week they'll be done & hung (b/c new window's will be installed then...YAY!)

So now I've gotta decide on how I'm making the bedskirt and bumper pads. I was thinking about using the stripes for the bedskirt and making the bumper pads with the flowery fabric, but I just can't make up my mind.

That's it for now. Hopefully, I will make my decision sooner than later.

Our New Outlook

2010-08-01T18:21:00.008-06:00

This past Wednesday our house received an enormous face-lift by the addition of new windows in the living room. I'm so happy with them b/c the old ones had broken latches and were NOT air tight, so our electricity bill was pretty pricey this past winter.

We had sub-contractors from Lowe's install them, so it seemed to go by pretty quickly.

This past Saturday, however, Ryan and our wonderful missionaries here in Clovis did some Do-It-Yourself work in our Kitchen (not so quickly).

10:30/11:00 am
They were removing the bay windows and outside brick wall to make room for french doors.

This was particularly Not a fun part of my day b/c the dog kept getting loose outside the gate and I'd have to chase her down. It wasn't too terrible at first, but it just kept happening, so we finally tied her to a tree. I know animal cruelty but at least there was no more pregnant lady cruelty, right?

1:00 P.M
Missionaries left and Ryan was determined to get those french doors in.

5:00 P.M.
Break time and ooooohhh how refreshing it was.

11:00 P.M.
Thanks to the help of a friend at 9:30 P.M. that came over to help Ryan move the door, we now have a Sweet Back Door with no door knobs yet, but they're coming...hopefully very soon :)

So Where Ya Been?

2010-07-18T20:51:00.001-06:00

We've mostly been here in Clovis but have been exhaustingly busy with life and our remodeling endeavor.

I wish I had more time for blogging but alas I've been too lazy for that. Anyway here's a quick update for those of you whov've been wondering what we have been up to.

Had a marathon couple of days to finish up some drywall so that carpet could be installed....and alas we met our deadline thanks to several wonderful friends that helped us out with various tasks.

Went to the midnight premiere of Eclipse. I had a fabulous time!

We started with girls night out get together at AppleBees and then off to the Show.

I stole these pictures off of my friend Jeni's blog b/c I didn't take a camera (gotta love technology sometimes, huh?) Jeni scored a pair of free passes to the movie that she generously shared with me.

My brother Levi and his wonderful wife Brittany and sweet boy Trevor came for a visit and stayed for the 4th of July weekend. We had such a great time with them! (I was a slacker at taking photos but I do have some video I can try to upload)

Our sweet dog Astro died. I won't go into details b/c it will make me cry but I'll just say he was the very best dog I and we have ever had!

I (Amanda)turned the big 31 and Ryan was fabulous about making me feel so pampered and loved! Koodo's to you Ry!

We now have a new dog...her name is Nala and she's still a puppy but big. Yes, it's a bit soon after the passing of our wonderful pooch Astro but we hope to have her used to our family quickly for reasons I cannot talk about except that it's nice to have Ryan do the rough housing with the dog and not I (haven't taken a picture yet but she looks very similar to Astro except that she's blonde instead of a red, oh and she's a girl :)

Lastly, we are having another baby in 3 months.....crazy how fast time flies. We are excited to be having a GIRL and for Keedan to have a sibling to play with!

Messy Business

2010-06-22T07:18:00.008-06:00

Our home remodeling adventure has definitely been an experience. Just last night we found out that the patio door we ordered 2 weeks ago (might I add that we were told on Sat. would be here on Tuesday) will not be arriving b/c Lowe's doesn't sale them anymore.
What??????? Funny this wasn't mentioned earlier.....like after we had initially ordered it and paid for it or at least sometime SOON after.

Needless to say, customer service will be receiving a call from a not so happy pregnant woman who spends WAY to much time and money in their store.

Enough angry ranting, now to the happenings as of late:

We have been prepping our house for carpet to be installed very soon. I will not say when it will be installed b/c I don't want to jinx us. Seems that we have run into some obstacles over the past few days, so I'll just be positive and say "soon we will have new unsmelly carpet".

To do so, we have:

- Emptied Bedrooms (into living room and dining room)

- Scraped the Popcorn Ceiling

-Applied Mud and Tape if needed...and Sanded

- Textured/Texturing

- Received MUDDY feet

We have completed two rooms with new texture, just two more to go. Hopefully, the last two bedrooms will be ready for paint tomorrow...as I have rounded up a posse of ladies to help me paint them.

Here's being Optimistic throughout all the obstacles that lay around us.

(staged...Amanda was not injured while shooting this photo)

More pics to hopefully come, so stay tuned.

Girls Camp 2010

2010-06-17T21:29:00.007-06:00

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend young women's camp this year as a leader with the stake camp committee.

The campsite was located in south NM and was absolutely breathtaking.

The theme was "Happily Ever After, A Princess Retreat".

(My campsite was up this trail)

A total of 5 days I was there. Might I add that I Thankfully did not get sick with a bug that others had gotten.

While there, I not only got to know some really great ladies, but I also learned how to cut a tomato properly, how to strip iceberg lettuce properly and that there are GIANT Giant Marshmallows that exist.

On venue day, I gave a class called Charm School. There I gave a quick talk about taking care of our bodies and then the YCL's and other leaders gave the girls manicures. It turned out Great!

(Three Blind Mice)

Each Ward and the Stake put on skits that had there theme tied into it. They were super entertaining, everyone did a great job.

We picked Cinderella as our main theme and not to be biased or anything but it was pretty HILL-ARE-EE-US. As you can see from the picture the lady sitting in the chair (Janessa) couldn't keep from laughing for very long. I too was laughing constantly.

The last day early in the morning (6:00am)everyone hiked to the lake lodge which was high up in the mountain and overlooked the lake with tall trees all around.
It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!
At this place we had our testimony meeting. We began with songs and of course prayer and during the songs I could really feel the spirit.

It was a very nice break from being around my two boys ;)
I hadn't laughed so hard in a very long time.
I had the very best time and was so grateful for the opportunity to be there and for Ryan's support in my decision to go and let me not forget the two wonderful babysitters (Jeni & Tina) that watched after Keedan while Ryan was at work.

Air Force Command Retreat to Sacramento, NM

2010-05-05T08:05:00.001-06:00

We traveled to Sacremento, NM for an Air Force retreat this past weekend.

Went Fly Fishing, sadly with no luck. People were feeding the fish dog food earlier in the day, so we tried attaching a piece of dog food to our fly but they still didn't bite.

Keedan absolutely loved the OUTDOORS. He threw some serious fits when we were indoors and even managed to open our room door multiple times to run outside. We had to baracade the door with a chair and heavy bag.

We also played a bit of paintball. I was nervous at first, but manned up and did some divin' in the woods with a non-lethal weapon. J/K no diving but definitely some shootin'.

Ryan in sniper mode.

Ryan in running mode.

Ryan in "I got hit in the face and the paint leaked threw my helmet" mode.

On our way up the hill to eat some fabulous grub!

We were part of the Blue Team...hence the blue bandanna's .

We had a great time and enjoyed our free time away from Keedan as well as our time with him.

Good Times, Good Times :)

New Floors

2010-04-25T16:51:00.009-06:00

So, we have new tile in three areas of the house....The Pantry, The Entryway & The Laundry Room. Wow it is so much nicer to have new tile.
This upcoming week, we are getting our Kitchen done.

This exquisite pink and grey marble above is getting hacked out and I can't wait!

Above is the pantry with old vinyl.

This is the entryway after the old tile was pulled up.

Entry way with new tile (before the grout was placed).

Now for the Laundry Room.

Because we had to remove the washer & dryer from their area to get the floor put in...I took advantage of the opportunity to make it a bit more complete.

I scraped the popcorn ceiling, painted the walls green & cut and installed new baseboards so that I can have my washer & dryer hooked up again very soon (the mounds of clothes are getting steep).

Ta da....almost complete. We still need some texture on the ceiling, the baseboards to be caulked and painted a second time and the shelf painted in a cream color.

At least the bottom part is almost ready for me to install the washer and dryer again.

HaPpY EaStEr

2010-04-04T19:53:00.013-06:00

We had a wonderful Easter/Conference Weekend!

First Off Conference was so uplifting and filled our home with such a strong spirit that I really didn't want it to end.

Leading up to this weekend, on Monday night for our FHE we read about the last week of Christ's Life. It was great to think about his last days on earth for an entire week. I think that helped prepare me to be open to the messages given at conference with more thanksgiving and appreciation for all that Christ has done for not only me but for everyone.

For our FHE activity we made "Monster Eggs". Keedan really enjoyed it and we really enjoyed watching him.

Thursday night we headed over to our church for an Easter Egg hunt.

Keedan didn't quite understand what to do for the first couple minutes but once he did figure it out he didn't want to stop putting eggs in his basket.

Saturday Keedan and I went to the Clovis Zoo for an Easter egg hunt and boy was it a dissapointment. Keedan only got to pick up one egg b/c the masses of children and parents were almost trampling. I spotted my friend Camille and we went over to chat with her for a bit. Sitting beside her was a boy around 5 who after hearing me say that Keedan only got one egg, placed two of his eggs into Keedan's basket. What a SWEETY! I'm still impressed with his unselfishness.

As we were leaving, I realized that we got to check out the zoo for free, so the time spent there wasn't a total waste of time. We had a good time and while it's small it's nice for a small town zoo.

Sunday morning, Keedan awoke to find what "The Easter Bunny" had brought him.

He enjoyed finding hidden eggs and knew exactly what to do with them this time!

Vincent Van Gogh In Training

2010-03-29T09:27:00.002-06:00

Keedan is in love with watercolors. Almost every night, he goes into the kitchen and says "Paint".

It's really cute how much he gets into his work.

We snapped a couple pics of him but didn't get his concentration pose with his tongue sticking out.

Nonetheless in some of the pics you can see his seriousness and his happiness.

Keedan's Second Birthday

2010-03-11T10:06:00.001-07:00

Hip Hip HooRay! Keedan is now officially a 2 year old. We celebrated by having homemade pizza and a chocolate cake for Keedan. It was very low key just Keedan, Ryan, Myself & Astro. We'll probably do a fun little party for him next year.

He ended up falling asleep before we could sing him Happy Birthday so we saved the cake for the next night.

So stop thinking that I made that cake above in the picture b/c I did not (I didn't take a pic of the K's cake). I wasn't feeling up to playing with my cake decorating tools so I went the quick route and just made a two layer chocolate cake. To make it somewhat fancy I put some marshmallow creme in-between the two layers and lets just say that that decision was not the best. I think I let my sweet tooth get in the way of that decision.

It was nice to enjoy the day with him and remember his birth to appreciate the hardships he has faced. He's a very STRONG little fella and we are so grateful to have him in our family!

These extra pics are of Keedan getting BUZZED by Ryan in January. Poor little guy had a runny nose at the time. He was suprisingly calm during the entire process.

Come on, where's the updates?

2010-03-08T09:17:00.009-07:00

Where are all the updates? We have focused our energy on other things besides blogging, hence for no updates recently. We have been pretty busy with a variety of things and unfortuneately have no pictures to show for it b/c I (Amanda) have been lazy at going to grab the camera, so here is a little bit of what's been going on.

Quick Update:
Keedan and I (Amanda) made a week long trip to Texas (via driving 12 hours each way) at the end of February. Sadly all the plans I had originally scheduled to do got rearranged and some cancelled altogether but with what we did do and the people we did get to see it was wonderful!

Keedan had a blast at his Papa & Meme's house (Amanda's Parents). There he learned how to say Kitty (mostly b/c they have a plethera of cats running around the yard....I'm not kidding, there are at least 7 little kitty's running around). The weather was fairly clear and warm so Keedan was outside 95% of the time we were there. He learned to gather rocks and throw them in the ditch one at a time. This was probably not the best thing for him to learn b/c now he wants to throw rocks into our pool at home.

I had the opportunity to go to the Houston temple during my trip and how I wish I could have gone everyday. I hadn't been to a temple since we moved to NM and it felt so wonderful to go serve and to feel the love of the Lord.

How I have missed my sweet friends (Texas, Laura, Hayley & Becca) and wish they lived here with me in Clovis, NM.
Thank you for the GREAT conversations and FUN times!

Keedan had so much fun playing with everyone during our trip and going to the Children's Museum on Thursday night for story time, a free book and lots of fun in the renovated museum. I was soooooo impressed with all of the improvements made since the last time we attended.

Next time we will definitely take pictures!

Comfy & Cozy

2010-02-03T20:18:00.005-07:00

Keedan absolutely LOVES to be surrounded by cushiness. He helped me with the laundry tonight (he's a great little helper).

I turned away for a moment and he was in the laundry basket which was on the couch.

He told me in his own little way what he wanted.

What he wanted was to be surrounded by towels and his pillow so that he had a cushy spot to relax.

I can't blame him for wanting to get comfortable!

Ryan & His Little Helper

2010-01-29T02:16:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple of pics of our living room during the rennovation.

No pictures yet of the AFTER b/c we have moved things into the living room so that we can work on other rooms.

I don't want the pictures to look cluttered so you'll all just have to wait.

Ryan and Keedan getting ready to sand the drywall.

Keedan got his mask on and the guys were ready to rock'n'roll.

The mask didn't last long, neither did the sanding.

Here they are laying down the plastic before the wood went down.

K's a great little helper most of the time.

He definitely brings the FUN to the house work.

January 28th Snow Storm

2010-01-28T18:33:00.004-07:00

The weather here cannot make up it's mind. Just yesterday I could have worn my flip-flops and today it is sooooo COLD and snowy. Yes SNOWY.

It is soooo SNOWY that Ryan did not have to go into work today nor did kids have school.

I wanted to make a snowman but chicken'd out b/c I wanted to stay warm.

Here a some more pics of today.

This is our pool, if you can believe it.

Our poor cars had to stay outside b/c our garage is wayyyyy too full of stuff.
Look how much snow there is.

Ups to cold days is that we had the fireplace burning, ate some super scrumptious Green Chile Soup and got some work done on our house.

Mommy! Mommy!

2010-01-17T18:32:00.003-07:00

So, I just love being a dad, for reals! It's just a blast and I never thought I would like it so much, but it's a lot of fun. It makes me feel bad for all those out there that think of their career is more important than having a family because let me be honest with you, YOU ARE MISSING OUT! I've done a few things in my day. Some highlights include being a rock star on guitar hero, becoming a homeowner, winning a law school advocacy competition, hitting a grand slam with two outs and two strikes in the last inning of the game (it was almost a comeback, we lost by 2), pitching a no-hitter (actually, I think it was a 2-hitter), getting a 4.0, acing a chemistry test, breaking a weight-lifting record in Utah, serving a mission, getting sealed in the temple and winning the local ward football tournament. However, NOTHING compares to the day after day experience of having a loving wife and being a dad. The biggest difference I think is that these experiences are great and I really enjoy them, but then they pass and they end. On the other hand, being part of a family doesn't...I'm part of the same family day after day. There is nothing like coming home and greeted by Amanda and little Keedan. Now, I realize a lot of the past experiences laid the foundation for the family life I'm enjoying now, (and it helps me realize just how important the gospel really is) but it is just great.

So, the title to this post has special meaning (Mommy!Mommy!). When Keedan was younger he knew how to say one word, DADDY! He said it all the time and I think Amanda even felt bad that he said Daddy all the time and didn't say Mommy much. It felt great for me though and I even admit that I gloated a little to Amanda about how Keedan liked me more. I know, sorry, I have my weaknesses. Well, the tables have turned and it seems Amanda is getting revenge. You see, Keedan still loves his dad, but he seems to have decided in his mind that Mommy and Daddy pretty much mean the same thing. He's decided that he can use the two words interchangeable and he's also decided that saying Mommy is easier!!!! So, it's just a little funny when I walk in the room or get home from work and Keedan screams, "Mommy!" Just one of the funny things that goes along with being a parent.

Fun With Playdough

2010-01-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

Keedan has discovered the FUN of making monster fingers with playdough.

After his monster fingers have been made, he is very careful not to be too rough with them.

He also gives a soft little growl when he attacks.

I just love it.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-29T14:58:00.013-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas in Clovis, NM this year. Despite our little man getting "PINK EYE", and a few other sickies in the house, I think overall we all had a great time.

Ryan's family drove down from Utah, since we were stuck here (b/c Ryan was oncall during Christmas).

Before they got here, we frantically tried getting our house together as best we could.

Ryan's sister Sabrina and her husband Dallen came a few days early to help with our house.

Thankfully, with their help, we were able to get our house in order for the time being.

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house was the smell of Prime Roast cooking throughout.

Our tummies were happy after such a good meal, we all settled to the living room to take a brief chill.

There was dancing and laughter with cute little ones, and crafty stocking making - oh how we had fun!

We awoke the next day to see what Santa had brought and to much of our surprise it was alot.

For there were 14 total people in our home that day, Santa hadn't forgot any and all were happay :)

The day after Christmas, we went bowling.

It was Keedan's first time, and he seemed to really like it, at least when he got his way.

Testing out the quality of a bowling ball.

Ryan's good luck charm.

Awww success...I believe that was a Turkey!

Keedan rubbing off some charm onto Daran.

Marietta & Camilia...oh soo pretty!

So, the ball comes through here?

SAWEET!

Good Times Good Times!!!

Santa 2009

2009-12-15T10:26:00.001-07:00

Yet another year of NOT liking Santa.....maybe next year.

Third time is suppose to be the charm ;)

Really, I like my job.

2009-12-13T22:51:00.002-07:00

So, our house is coming along. It's amazing what you can learn from youtube. Every time I need to figure out how to do something, I spend 30 minutes on youtube and wahoo, I'm an expert. This has come in really handy with the renovation and more importantly it has helped me to convince Amanda that we need to buy one more tool. I'm sure I'm getting close to our limit though.

On another note, I had a busy week at work, but I really am loving it. I got a new case assigned to me! Wahoo! Doing court is great fun. It's so nice to be working and actually enjoying what I'm doing at work. The other attorneys that I work with are great and hopefully, things won't change too much (but they will, I'm in the military). After last week's rant, I should also mention that my office does have a very big window that I really love. Some other offices don't have windows, so my office does have some advantages. Just wanted to drop a quick note on the blog, so that I can get in the habit.

Malnar Renovation

2009-12-13T14:17:00.002-07:00

I must say that whilst it is exciting to DIY on your house...it can be very very frustrating, exhausting, dusty & super messy.

We have been working on our house fairly diligently for a couple months now.

To begin the rennovation...or should I say...transformation, I started priming the woodwork in the living room.

We scraped the popcorn ceiling (used a water hose to soften it beforehand) and then....

began putting a knockdown texture up. Goes by so much faster with a spray texture gun as opposed to stomping by hand.

Ryan geared up for some hard labor.

Keedan excited that we are making progress.

New ceiling texture is complete, now we need some paint. +

This is our Hallway....the woodwork was stained brown but after some primer and lovely paint it is now dazzling. Of course, you will see the painted part later.

This is our entryway. The wall had wallpaper but I (Amanda)managed to get most of it off with some of my awesome muscles.

Here is part of the entryway wall (Ryan was able to make the opening straight in lieu of a curved opening) and part of the living room that is mostly complete...we now need to put down the flooring and do some touching up.

We hope you enjoyed our Sneek Peek. Stay tuned for more pictures of our Before and After coming very very soon ;)

Wing Command Christmas Dinner

2009-12-09T09:06:00.003-07:00

This past Friday night Ryan and I attended his Wing Command Christmas Dinner.

The food was good, the entertainment was so so and the games were a BLAST!

Ryan played a balloon popping game.

How it works:
A balloon is blown up & placed with a string to a person's shoe. The object of the game is to pop others balloon's without using your hands.
Pretty simple, except for cheaters that only blow up there balloon
a tiny bit so that it is harder to pop.

I have to hand it to Ryan, he did amazingly well until the cheaters popped his balloon.

The other game we played was a marshmallow catching (with only the mouth) contest. Each table was given a bag of marshmallows.

This is Aaron..our marshmallow pitcher. He works with Ryan in the legal office. I do have to brag b/c Ryan and I did really good at this game.

This is me laughing...I'm not sure at what but I was definitely having a good time.

By the end of the night we won two door prizes. One was a gift card to Applebee's and the other one was a crystal clock that was just the right size to go on a desk.

We traded that with Aaron for a free tire rotation cuz Ryan WAS NOT going to put the cute crystal clock on his desk. Honestly, I don't think we would have put it on anything at home either.

Good Times, Good Times.

I shall blog!

2009-12-06T22:27:00.004-07:00

So, I've decided it's about time that I start blogging on a regular basis (please disregard that I made the same decision about 1 year ago and did one post). I've come to this decision for a few reasons. First of all, I've been inspired by a couple other individuals, namely, the lonely maggot and legal quandary. Before I joined the Air Force, I read everything on their blogs about being an Air Force JAG. Second, it's just not fair that my wife have to post everything about our life and it's not fair that all my family and friends view never hear any of my inner thoughts. No fault to my lovely wife, as I am very happy that she's kept up the blog, because she's done a great job keeping everyone informed and kept a great sort of family journal.

We live in Clovis, NM and I work in the legal office at Cannon AFB. It's been interesting. We moved here during the height of the real estate recession and so we hoped to an inexpensive house to buy. Well, the prices here in Clovis are extremely overpriced. It was unbelievable. We finally found a foreclosure that we could fix up and remodel, so we went for it. This past weekend we bought our flooring and we've been removing walls and getting it all ready to put down before my family gets here for Christmas. Man, construction is a lot of work, I realize why people pay to have others do this kinda stuff.

I met the newest attorney in our office today. He seems like a nice guy. I almost feel bad knowing the way an LT gets treated sometimes. Or maybe that was just me. On second thought, I think it was me. I have the smallest office in the legal office and just to illustrate that point, I was meeting with the Wing Commander the other day and I had to ask him to move his chair so I could get the door open!!! Absolutely ridiculous. At least he didn't ask me if I was a 'real' attorney. I think the life-size poster shouting to the world that I passed the Texas bar might help. We did get new furniture and although it's not the best looking stuff...I really do have more desk space to put things than before, except my books! When they bought the furniture my office got a desk and...a desk, That's IT! This wouldn't be a big deal, except I'm an attorney and YES, I have reference books. Now, I am trying to find any book that has any kind of legal reference in it and filling my office, then maybe I'll get a bookshelf to go along with my desk, not that it will fit though.

After that rant, I do need to add the disclaimer that I have some kind of file cabinet with a couple shelves at the top, but you can only fit books on one shelf since the other one is so small.

When I talked talked to others about the problem with getting the door open...the suggestion always comes back that I should move my desk as close to the back wall as I can, so that guests have more room. I refuse to use 1/3 of my office for me and give up the other 2/3rds for the occasional commander that comes in my room. I will just have to ask them to move their chair. And that's a wrap...look for more ranting next WEEK!

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-05T16:30:00.004-07:00

This Thanksgiving, we drove up to Logan, UT.

Details of the TRIP:

1. Departed Clovis at the 4 p.m. range.

2. Stopped in Trinidad Co. to purchase DVD player that turned out to be the BEST purchase we have EVER made b/c it occupied the LITTLE MAN for a VERY LOOOONNNNGGGGG time.

3. Arrived in Logan, UT Thanksgiving Day at the 7:30 a.m. range.

4. Napped for a few hours.

5. Ate yummy food, socialized and played games.

6. Went night night at 10:30 p.m.

7. Awoke 4:45 a.m to do some Black Friday Shopping.

8. Left 5:00 p.m. to head to So. Salt Lake to visit my (Amanda's) brother and his family.

9. Ate good food, played a game and slept so very good that night.

10. Left Saturday afternoon to drive to Park City, Ut...but beforehand...we stopped at Lumber Liquidator's to purchase our FLOORING for our house. YAY

11. Arrived around 4'ish p.m.

12. Socialized, ate dinner went nighty night around 11'ish.

13. Awoke 6-ish to leave by 7-ish but we ended up leaving at 8-ish.

14. Arrived back in Clovis by 10:30-ish p.m.

15. Awwww Sleep is wonderful!

Marietta & D'mar taking a nap.

Meredith & Camilia looking pretty.

The Kids

The Ladies

Group Picture

Anita excited to go Black Friday Shopping.

Camilia even more excited to go B. F. Shopping.

Marietta excited to be up @ 5 am-ish and to go B.F. shopping.

Keedan & D'mar jumping on a mattress and having the time of their lives!

Anita & Daran about to have a cool whip fight.

Yummy Strawberry Shortcake that Anita made.

Yummy yummy picture.

Keedan attacking Olivia.

Keedan resorted to attack with his kisses and licks.

We had such a wonderful time with everyone and even though the trip was LONG, we will no doubt make it many more times.

Santa Fe, NM

2009-12-01T08:20:00.001-07:00

The weekend before Thanksgiving I went with some friends from church to Santa Fe, NM to do a bit of shopping and most importantly to watch the new twilight movie "New Moon".

We all made matching shirts. This was the front.

Close up of our Heart.

This was the back of the shirt :) Isn't it cute?

When we arrived in Santa Fe, we checked into our hotel rooms did a bit of shopping and then went to go eat at Harry's Roadhouse. It was featured on the Food Network's show "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" hosted by Guy Fieri.

The food was FABULOUS!!! I had the chicken quesadilla's and a cup of the butternut squash.

Wow...my tastebuds were sooooooo happy.

After dinner we went back to the hotel to get ready for the midnight showing of New Moon.

Mostly everyone brought a wig to wear. I totally forgot to go out and get one so I just teased my hair and sprayed lots of hairspray onto it.

Camille and Megen posing with lovely wigs.

Carly and her messed up Elvira Wig.

Alex and her matted wig.

Megen and her Hanna Montana wig.

We were soooo ready for the movie.
As you can see, we also put vampire make-up on...we were pretty scary :)

The next day we went mega-shopping and stopped at Zia Diner (another restaurant featured on Diner's Drive-in's and Dives)for lunch.

The entire trip was a Ton of Fun and the movie was Awesome...much better than the first one.

Why Yes...

2009-11-14T15:06:00.002-07:00

I think I will begin listening to Christmas music. Why Not?

If it gets to be too anoying , then I'll just put in a CD or something.

Hip Hip Hooray for the Holidays :)

Halloween Pirate

2009-11-08T12:41:00.001-07:00

Wednesday before Halloween we attended our ward's Trunk or Treat. I (Amanda) did dress up for this but was running a bit late so no pictures of my get up were taken.

Keedan had an awesome time! (Sry, not pics of the event due to mechanical problems on my end.)

Halloween night we went trick or treating in our neighborhood. It was so much fun to watch Keedan and his expressions. He seemed very pleased at getting candy from random strangers.

Once Keedan got candy and put it in his bag he would go and push on the door to shut it. It was really funny & cute!

Give me some candy!

Whoo Hoo let's go get more.

Come on Dad...let's hurry.

We opened a sucker for Keedan and he was in candy heaven.

We had a great time and can't wait for next year!

Family Gathering For Bitner's Blessing Part II

2009-11-03T18:07:00.001-07:00

We went out to a huge apple tree and began picking some apples for some homemade apple pie.

Sabrina, D'mar & Paxton picking apples.

Keedan picked his first apple.

He was very happy about it.

Next stop was taking a tracktor ride with Uncle Dallen.

Everyone, of course, had a turn.

Checking out all the goats.

Keedan wasn't even scared of the goats. I was quite impressed.

Aunt Anita helping all the kids core and peel the apples.

They were all sooooo cute and did such a good job.

Btw, they all wanted bows in there hair and I just couldn't resist. It was tooo funny and cute.

Ryan's reaction when he saw the bow in Keedan's hair.....he pulled it out. I guess you would have had to have been there to see the humor.

We had a wonderful time and were happy that we were able to be present for Bitner's blessing.

Family Gathering for Bitner's Blessing Part I

2009-10-29T18:24:00.001-06:00

Ryan's family came down to Clovis from Logan UT @ the beginning of October.

We had fun playing games and catching up.

Anita, D'mar & Keedan singing.

Keedan rock'n out on the drums & D'mar trying to get his autograph.

D'mar & Keedan chowing on some doghnuts.

and more doghnuts.

Later we left Clovis to go up to Trinidad, CO to Sabrina's house (Ryan's sister) to attend a baby blessing for her new beautiful baby Bitner.

Uncle Ryan & Baby Bitner.

Ryan's mom (Nana) and Baby Bitner.

Monkey's jumping on the bed.

Keedan taking in his surroundings.

"C'mon let's go pick some apples".

Extra Random Shots from our Disney Vacation

2009-10-27T02:46:00.003-06:00

Disney's Magic Kingdom

2009-10-25T17:30:00.001-06:00

This place is definitely full of magic!

Ryan and Keedan on the magical ferry boat.

I loved how festive they got with decorations.

Cute Scarecrow Pumpkin Baseball Player.

Mickey Pumpkin.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

This ride is more of my (Amanda) style. NOt toooo scary and has plenty of weeeeeeeee.

Country Bear Jamboree

We took Keedan and Jonas here while Jen and Patrick rode some rides. It was a very cute show that captured the boy's attention for almost the entire time.

Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor

This was a super cute and funny live show.

Pirates of the Carribean

This was a scenic ride through the world of "Pirates of the Carribean" The details are phenominal.

Splash Mountain

We were impressed at how long this ride was. It was definitely fun!

The Enchanted Tiki Room

This was a cute litte show with birds from various Disney movies.

The Haunted Mansion

This was a cool ride through a haunted mansion. Keedan didn't like as much as we did.

We had a fun-filled day and came back at nightime to watch the light parade.

Finding a place to watch the parade was a bit of a challenge, but we luckily found the perfect spot.

It was such an awesome parade...Disney does it UP UP and UP!

Us "exhausted" Malnar's after the light parade and fireworks.

Keedan's New Bed

2009-10-20T19:36:00.005-06:00

I just couldn't resist putting Keedan's new bed together today. We still need to finish his ceiling and paint the walls, but the bed is so small it can be moved easily through the door.

Keedan was soooo excited when I showed him the bed after he awoke from his nap today.

Once his bedding was washed

he enjoyed playing peek-a-boo

and jumping on the bed like a monkey.

Disney's Epcot

2009-10-18T16:00:00.002-06:00

This park was most definitely the biggest. We didn't get to everything we wanted to.

There is always next time...right?

Spaceship Earth

I always thought that this big ball like looking thing was just for decor...but it is actually a ride for everyone.

Mission Space

This was a neat ride. There were four seats in the ride and each seat area had different buttons to push during the ride. It was like you were virtually driving a spacecraft.

Playing a 3-D anatomy game.

Keedan enjoying some fun in the sun and water.

Oh how it would be so much fun to be little again.

Test Track

Ryan and I loved this one. So much that we rode it twice.

The Seas With Nemo and Friends

This was a cute little ride that showcased the movie as we journeyed through underwater scenery.

Honey I Shrunk the Audience

Honestly, this show was a waste of our time.

Keedan playing with velcro frogs and their accessories. I've forgotten the name of the place but it was a fun place for little ones. We also played an interactive game that taught about fire safety.

Soarin

This was very relaxing and was a great way to end our day of rides.

World Showcase
We only made it to two different countries at the World Showcase. Mexico and Norway.

Mexico Pavillion I

Inside they had really nice authentic looking Mexican village. There was also a boat ride that Keedan just loved.

Keedan playing with the caraca's

Awww, so cute in a sombraro!

Norway Pavillion

Here we rode another boat ride and then proceeded to watch a 5 minute film that was a bit weird in the way it was put together.

ARrrrgg, the Vikings!

Disney's Hollywood Studios

2009-10-13T11:45:00.007-06:00

We loved loved Hollywood Studios! It was one of our favorite parks.

Voyage of the Little Mermaid

Voyage of The Little Mermaid was really neat the way the show was performed. It was a mixture of cartoon and a live theatrical play with special effects thrown in. A very good show!

Rock'n Roller Coaster

Ryan rode this one by himself while I went to get us seats for Fantasmic. He said it was pretty AWESOME!

Beauty and the Beast Live Performance

This show was all theatrical and was FABULOUS!!!!! We all loved it.

Fake City Background

This City straight behind me was flat and had an awesome 3-D affect as you can see.

Ryan & his favorite Toy Soldier

Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Adventure

This was a really cool stunt show. Sadly, three performers have died since June of 2009 rehearsing for this show.

Journey Into Narnia: Prince Caspian

This was alright. It was mainly just a place to preview the movie and then afterwards look at the costumes and artifacts used for the movie.

Muppet Vision 3-D

I thought this was boring. It's a 3-D movie that you watch and @ various parts of the show animated puppets and a costumed performer come out. We didn't have Keedan with us, so he might have liked it.

Star Tours

This ride made us a bit dizzy.

The Great Movie Ride

This is a pretty relaxed ride with a bit of live theatrics included.

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

This ride was "The Bomb Diggity". This will leave a smile on your face for a couple hours at least.

Toy Story Mania

We loved loved loved this ride/game. You ride in a cart, wear 4-D glasses and have guns to shoot at different objects. You are in a competition with the person next to you. By the end of the ride Ryan's score overly surpassed mine.

Fantasmic

Another theatrical/cartoon show. It is performed outside on a large platform over a body of water. (Probably due to the many fireworks and explosions)

The cartoon parts of the show are shown on moving water wall.

It was awesome!

Lesson Learned

2009-10-11T18:19:00.008-06:00

So, I've managed to learn a very important lesson today that I would like to share with all.

Lesson Learned:
"It is important ...if not crucial, to change a poopy diaper immediately!"

Why do you ask?
"Seems like common sense, I know. Unfortuneately, I thought I had a better plan."

The Plan:
"I will start Keedan's bath water, change his diaper, then just stick him in tha tub. (Just in case he has another episode, I don't waste a diaper)"

Problem:
"Actions are out of order."

Bigger Problem:
"I waited for bath water to be done - went to fetch the wipes and BAM, I inserted my foot into a puddle of poop that had spilled out of Keedan's apparently overflowing diaper."

"SCREAM"

Tip To Husbands:
"Matters are worsened when you begin to laugh and joke @ this moment."

Something To Ponder (Husbands):
"What if your wife had called "Not It" first and roles were reversed....how would you have handled the situation?
Another thing...How much help would you expect?"

Solution:
"I stood still whilst my husband fetched the wipes, and then handed me one so that I could unstatue myself and get a poopy child into tha bath."

Preferred Solution/Dreamt Solution:
"Husband fetches wipes, cleans wife's poopy foot along with the poopy puddle and places child in tha tub."

Next Time:
"Gonna call out "NOT IT" a whole lot faster!!!"

Disney's Animal Kingdom

2009-10-05T09:00:00.001-06:00

Monday we went to Animal Kingdom. I really enjoyed this park and so did Keedan.

The Tree of Life

This tree has carvings of animals all over it. It's Pretty awesome! Click on the pictures so you can see the carvings close up.

It's Tough To Be A Bug

The Hunt family getting ready to watch "It's Tough to be a Bug". This was my favorite 3-D show @ Disney.

Jonas & Keedan enjoying all the many fishes.

Expedition Everest

This rollercoaster was awesome!

Kali River Rapids

A bit dissappointing b/c of the short ride but good for cooling off from the heat.

Kilimanjaro Safaris

Keedan not too sure about what he's seeing outside of the bus. He later loosened his grip on Ryan and began to enjoy the ride.

This was awesome! It was exactly like one of those drive thru petting zoo's except that you weren't allowed to pet these animals. We saw rhino's, a leopard, lions, giraffes and all different types of animals you can see on an actual safari.

Primevil Whirl

This was my least favorite ride b/c it was just tooooo jerky.

Tricera Top Spin

Keedan's first "big" ride".

Dinosaur

This was a fun ride too.

A pair of exhausted baby boys.

Animal Kingdom Parade

We ended our Day 1 of Disney Wold by watching a parade.

Jonas & Patrick waiting for the parade to start.

Big Lizard

Big Kangaroo

Whooo Hoooo!

The costumes were amazing and the parade was very entertaining. We had a great time!

Disney World...Holla

2009-09-30T16:56:00.001-06:00

After Ryan's graduation from JASOC we traveled to Orlando by car from Alabama to the place where dreams come true.

There we met up with our friends from Houston The Hunts.

We stayed @ Windsor Hills Resort in a pretty snazzy condo (with a super sweeeeeet pool - shown above), had a week long VACAE filled with excitement & just enough food in our kitchen!

More too come...

Washington D.C.

2009-09-25T16:00:00.003-06:00

We were able to travel to D.C. and wow was I (Amanda) impressed at the city. Just looking at the architecture alone was enough for me to be happy with my trip.

We had so much to do and so little time to do it. We were not able to see everything that we wanted to see but we had an enjoyable experience nonetheless.

Supreme Court Building

Ryan's JASOC class.

...yes that is little man Keedan running in one of the massive halls of the bldg. Thankfully it was permitted :)

Taking the tour.

U.S. Capitol Building

Can I be any more obvious that I'm a tourist?

Ceiling of the Capital Bldg.

I've got my nifty headphones on (so to be able to hear our tour guide)standing beside a statue of Brigham Young.

Crime & Punishment Museum

Public Nuissance

Learning how to use a gun early in life.

All Locked UP!

Similation of Driving a Cop Car....it was difficult to steer, I just hope that reg. cop cars are a bit easier.

America's Most Wanted is filmed in the basement of the museum on Saturday's in front of a live audience.

Keedan and I on the America's Most Wanted set.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Ready for some learnin'.

Holocost Museum

Regardless of possible depression, this is a must see if your ever in D.C.

World War II Memorial

The monuments and memorials are beautiful at nighttime.

Lincoln Memorial

No climbing!

U.S. Monument

White House

Red Hat Lady's Group

Protestor

and more protestor's

Playing with the birds and ducks in the park across from the White House.

Sweet Home Away From Home Alabama

2009-09-21T12:55:00.016-06:00

We Malnar's are back home after being away from home for quite some time (Ryan - 2 months) (Amanda & Keedan - 1 month & 1 week).

Ryan was in Alabama for some training and Keedan and I went up to stay with the wonderful Sullivan family until Ryan's training was complete.

Here are pics of our time in AL.

Ry mowing the grass & Keedan snoozing...who'd a thought the lawn mower could put him to sleep?!

Keedan trying on Glen's shoes.

Pool Party/Rock Band with Flight Bravo @ one of Ryan's instructor's home.

Keedan practicing for American Idol.

Ceremony for becoming a Captain.

I was privileged to be able to change Ryan's jacket to his new rank as Captain Malnar.

The Officer's Club Dining Out Night.

We were some fancy dressed peeeps.

Ryan & Amy Austin at the Dining Out. She is one funny lady!

Ryan and his flight at "THE GROG".

Finishing his cup of GROG.

The Entertainment for the night was fabulous. Skits inspired by people from JASOC were performed.

Ryan was part of the various skits and did a wonderful job imitating a guy that was always texting while at training.

Ryan receiving his certificate for completing JASOC.

Ryan very excited to be finished with training.

We were all happy on Graduation Day!!!

Happy Anniversary to US

2009-08-12T09:34:00.009-06:00

Ryan and I are making our mark in married society.

Three years today we began our adventure into marriage life together by being married and sealed at the Logan Temple.

I am so happy that I was able to go back with pictures to remember all of the wonderful times Ryan and I have shared.

These are by far not all of them but just some of my favorite.

Camping with Ryan & his mom.

Ryan & I getting ready to go and see Coldplay @ the Toyota Center.

Ryan & I after Institute.

Our Rock climbing adventure in Logan, UT.

The night that Ryan proposed.

King & Queen of the Braes Bayou Dance.

Dancing the night away. BTW...Ryan is a fabulous dancer!

Get together with friends a week or so before our wedding.

Engagement pictures taken by Sabrina.

Below...the Lovely Lovely Wedding Day

We are still moving full speed ahead :)

JASOC

2009-08-09T23:17:00.000-06:00

Ryan has been in Alabama since July 12th for military law training called JASOC.

He has been able to do and see some really cool things.

Here are some pics of Ryan during his training.

(Watch Out You Call of Duty Fanatics...Ryan will be back to playing in a little over a month and he is equipped to Win the World :)

Here is some info on the gun that Ryan is holding....just in case any of you are interested:

Light-Machine Guns

M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) – Designed in Belgium the M249 is
based off the FN MINIMI SAW

Ammo Capacity without Bandolier 2 x 100 clips maximum 100
Ammo Capacity with Bandolier 4 x 100 clips maximum 300
Add-on’s red-dot sight – 25 kills, grip – 75 kills, ACOG Scope – 150kills

Discovering Clovis

2009-07-29T21:16:00.007-06:00

My friend Camille & I & our kiddos went to downtown Clovis to discover the various shops.

I have to say that I was impressed by the variety of items people had to sell.

(This is Makenzi & she's wearing a lovely bonnett...she loved pushing Keedan around in his stroller)

We discovered a ceramic shop called "Color Factory & More" that barely opened the previous Saturday.

It's similar to Firehouse Pottery where you pick the piece you would like to paint and they provide everything that you'd need. They also clean up your mess...what can be better than that?

We had plenty of time to kill so we decided to paint some ceramics.

Camille painting a very cute bowl...Keedan trying to grab Adrie & Makenzi smiling brightly.

Makenzi & Keedan discovering their artistic abilities.

Keedan is very serious about his new hobby.

We had a great time!

First Project @ The House

2009-07-24T16:05:00.005-06:00

My first small project at our new house was pulling out the UGLY astroturf that was in the front entryway of our front house as well as dusting out the cobwebs, dirt and leaves.

You can't see it from the picture but there is glue all over the concrete. We are going to need to think of something creative to put over this area.

Ah, doesn't the house have so much more curb appeal now?

I would like to add some pretty plants to the front, but I'll be leaving for a month so I'll have to wait until I get back so that the plants won't die.

30 Something

2009-07-19T15:49:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday was my 30th Birthday. Ryan threw me a somewhat surprise birthday/pool party. He told me about 30 minutes before that he had invited people over and they were to show up farely soon.

He's sooo cute!

At first he said that people were coming over to check out our new house and then he spilled the beans that they were really coming over for my Birthday/Pool party :)

I guess he wanted me to be prepared, hahahahah...probably due to the fact that I was pretty funky looking with unpacking, and organizing etc...

For my "Birthday Cake", Ryan put 6 candles on a cheescake (each representing 5 years) and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me.

I had a really good time and was definitely surprised by Ryan's little plan.