new addition

A new cousin added to the Risenmay side! Kaibrey Lyn Risenmay - Eric and Sharolyn's daughter. She was born Nov 16th (yes this is a late post, but it's been a busy 2 months - Nov and Dec) at 3:19 pm 5lbs 18 oz and 19inches. She is so cute! Too bad they live in Twin Falls and we may not see her until she's 1.....oh well. We look forward to more pictures of her and are excited to have more cousins. Congrats to Eric and Sharolyn! Doesn't she have the most striking blue eyes?! And her little fingernails are painted pink.....awwwwww.  :)

Happy, happy brithday Jeffrey dear....

Jeff turned the big 3-1 this year (Nov 22) and it's hard to shop for someone who's birthday is right before Christmas and still have the creativity to come up with something meaningful for both days.....2 years ago, I think it was, we went to Blue Man Group in Vegas - his parents live there and babysat for us while Jeff's brother Steven and I surprised Jeff with a night out to see the Blue Man Group at the Venetian Hotel. Jeff had no idea, but happily followed us around until we were at the door of the theater about to enter. "We can't go in there, we don't have tickets." Ummmmm, "Yes we do, let's go." What the, who the, huh!? I think was the response to follow. I wish I had pictures from that - it was awesome!

Last year there was a BYU game on Jeff's birthday. I convinced all of his loyal BYU watching friends to say no when Jeff asked them to come over and watch....my brother Steven and sister-in-law (and this was just a bonus because I didn't plan this part) were coming from Wickenburg and asked us to watch their 4 kids while they went to the Temple and in return could they watch our kids......um, YES! Would you mind letting all of those friends in while we're gone as a surprise for Jeff? They agreed and so I had to listen to Jeff wonder why all of his friends couldn't come watch the game at our house - I think it was a big game too.....anywho, he was totally shocked and my friend Michelle was nice enough to decorate yummy cupcakes in the shape of a Y. She does an amazing job - so very talented that girl. My icing on cakes, cookies, always looks like I dropped it on the floor then put it back on the plate to serve (fyi: I don't do that....just looks like I do).

This year, I had an idea, but was having a hard time coming to grips with the cost of actually going somewhere nice, hiring a babysitter, going out to eat and dessert......$$$$$$seeing all those still makes me a little queasy, but I heard this little voice (erin) telling me (erin) "IT'S FOR HIS BIRTHDAY!!!" (erin). Dinner at Subway, then.........We made it all the way into Gammage Theater at ASU before he figured out we were going to see Phantom of the Opera. :) It was so much fun and we had a great time. He was shocked and totally caught off guard that I would do this. When he would tell people later we went to see Phantom, the response was "Why? Did your wife want to go and dragged you along?" to which Jeff would tell them, "No, I wanted to see it and she was the best wife ever and purchased tickets so we could enjoy the show together and with friends." (so I may have expanded his response, nonetheless, he was thinking it.... haha)

 

 

Side note: no flash photography in the theater....oops. :) Annoying to others and dangerous for the actors. But they can light flashbangs without warning and fire we felt in the middle balcony.... It was so cool! :)

To Oregano's for wings and pizookie (pizza cookie....so yum!)

Sunday was Jeff's actual birthday Nov. 22 - here's our family party.

The kids painted the frames and I had the photos for Jeff to take to work - he finally has a desk to showcase his cute family. :)

Abbey loves daddy - wahoo! haha

"Happy birthday" and Jeff was all ready to go to bed, but couldn't blow the candle out.....(family joke my dad tells every year at Twin Lakes)

Daddy love

Mission impossible: Tooth extraction 101

This last tooth has got to go! It's been rumored Grandpa Riz is not so gentle about pulling loose teeth, so we convinced Lea that her last shark tooth needed to come out. Rumors of strings, door slamming and other not so gentle ways to extract teeth. (side note: Saw Coach/Bishop Porter at church the Sunday before - he had the same suggestions.....he was teasing, Grandpa I'm not sure would be joking around). And since Grandpa Riz was coming for Thanksgiving, we convinced Lea to get wiggling and let us help her get it out. A few times we brought her to tears and took some bloody pictures to document the tooth extraction. (Just for you Jaxon! One of Lucas' friends).

This was a couple days before we helped her pull it out.

Tuesday night she was still awake and wiggling the tooth. Jeff made her get up and the process began.

 

I'm not even sure I pulled on it, she would wince in pain before we ever touched the tooth......

This one is for our little friend Jaxon - do you love it?! :)

Abbey decided to wake up and join the party - can you see the bloody hole in Lea's mouth?!

The Tooth Fairy came that night and left 4 quarters and note, same as the first night, but a different note which is sweetly displayed on Lea's bedroom door. 

Baby JJ

UPDATE: JJ had the winter spirit today!!!  He is up to 4 lbs and eating all on his own from a bottle. He still needs a little oxygen while he eats but otherwise is doing really great!! We are still hoping he will get to come home next week.

Found out last night (Nov. 22) that my close friend from home had her baby 7 weeks early and an emergency c-section. Her water broke, they went to the hospital and right to surgery. He's just over 3lbs and 16 inches long. I actually had no idea she was pregnant. I don't get to see her much and the last time we were home, we spent all of our time with family as my parents were leaving on their mission. At any rate, he's in the NICU for a while and she's got a couple days in the hospital because they knicked her bladder trying to hurry and get him out. Much love and prayers for my sweet friend. I'm so grateful for modern medicine that saved her life and her baby's life. Baby JJ  - Jason Jr, what they are calling him for now.

Veteran's Day highlights

Veteran's Day was mostly a quiet day for us. I had big plans to go to a museum, or some place fun to enjoy the day, but I forgot what day it was and thought I had another week to be "Fun" mom. :) So since the libraries were closed, I couldn't get a Culture Pass to go to any of the museums or even the zoo for the day. That's fine, they were probably crowded anyway and some days my kids get tired of going places - not that we go some place fun every day, but sometimes it's just nice to stay home - together.

Playing in Lea's room is always a highlight - my boy loves a cape, no matter the color.

Lea had the day off from school, spent part of the morning hanging out, then went on a 2 mile bike/scooter/stroller walk around Meadows Loop (our neighborhood) and came back to the park by our house. We had a picnic, played, and dug in the sand. The kids had a good time even though it was unusually warm for November - it felt more like a summer day with the sun beating down. They had a good time and played with some other kids who came to play at the park. I'm always surprised at how easily kids can play as if they've known each other forever.

Picnic lunch - beautiful day

group photo....as good as it gets...

Helicopter flying by - on occasion we see Military fighter jets fly over - it's awesome! Makes me proud!

Lea the photographer

and......Lucas the photographer

Back for nap time and some creative activities for Lea to do while the little ones slept. The tooth pulling in the previous post happened before dinner - another highlight :)

Lea decorated this toy car she was given for her birthday

A "Girl" guitar - decorated by Lea

The "Boy" guitar - "Let's rock n' roll"

It was a pretty relaxing day and it was nice to spend the day together without shelling out a small fortune to entertain my kids. Thank you to all the Veterans who served and those currently serving. I have several family members who have been in the military and so does Jeff. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It's a peaceful feeling to have the sweet freedoms we have. To worship how we want, go to school where we can, the right to vote and so much more - it's a long list of worthy causes that our Veterans have fought, died and are fighting for. We're just so humbled and thankful.

Tooth Fairy, Tooth Fairy, what do you see?

I see a little girl with only 5 front teeth! 5? Yep! First there were 6 (because of the 2 adult teeth growing behind), now there are 5. What is the exchange rate for a tooth these days? We'll see, there is some discussion amongst a couple Tooth Fairy helpers. This is the first tooth, so where do we set the standard without going broke with LOTS more teeth to be pulled................

After much wiggling, I managed to twist it a couple times and felt the pop, pop as the tooth came loose and was hanging sideways and laying straight out....gross huh? I told Lea to pull it out herself and away she pulled. Slightly panicked at the sight of so much blood, but quickly excited she pulled out her 1st tooth!!!!

Phone call to Daddy and phone call to Grandma Judy

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!!!! Wahoo, wahoo, wahoo, wahoo!!!

Lucas: "Mom take a picture of me yelling....aaaaahhhhhhhhh!" The celebration!

Opposition in all things

Mesa Temple: built in 1923 and the 7th operating Temple. There are now 130 operating Temples in the World and 19 announced Temples to be built. WOW!

2 Nephi 2: 11, 15

  11 For it must needs be, that there is an ^aopposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

      •  •  •

  15 And to bring about his eternal ^apurposes in the end of man, after he had ^bcreated our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the ^cfowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the ^dforbidden ^efruit in ^fopposition to the ^gtree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.

Should it be any different when the Lord announced through a modern day Prophet that a Temple was to be built in North Phoenix or anywhere else in the world...? Satan knows that is if this Temple is built, work will be done that he can't control. Families will be sealed together - past, present and future, which the family is essential to the Lord's plan of Salvation. We are so blessed to have Temples as close as they are.

There are problems with getting the property re-zoned to build the Temple. Here is the call to action for the Saints in our Stake. Jeff is on his way there as I type and said there a lot of police officers and cars out as they expect some conflict. Which I hope doesn't happen and cooler heads prevail. This Temple is much needed as the Mesa Temple is bursting at the seams with activity....it's exciting to say it's so busy we need not only 1 more, but 2 more Temples in the Phoenix area!!! :)

Friday, November 6, 2009

Help Needed for the Phoenix Temple

Due to some opposition to the measure, the Bishop, Stake President, and Area Presidency are asking that we attend the Phoenix Planning Commission meeting to support the rezoning of the proposed Temple grounds at 51st Ave & Pinnacle Peak.


Date: Tue, Nov 10
Location: 4525 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ (Central High School, near Indian School/Central Ave).
Time: meeting starts at 6:00, but we are being asked to be there by 4:30.
Click here for a link to a map to the meeting from Laveen. A map is also attached.
Click here for a link to the meeting agenda.
In addition, all voting age members are being asked to write to each City of Phoenix Council member and the Mayor of Phoenix to express our desire to have the Temple in Phoenix and to support the rezoning measure. The City Council will vote on the measure on Dec 2 if the measure passes the Planning Commission on Nov 10. Remember to express support, but don't bear testimony, this is not the proper venue for testifying. District 7 Michael Nowakowski council.district.7@phoenix.gov

As suggested by President Johnson, we are arranging carpools to the meeting in order to get 20 people from our ward in attendance. If you can drive a carpool or want a ride in a carpool, please contact me. If you will be driving individually, please let me know!

Thank you,
Bro King

Primary Program

Sunday Nov 8 - today was the primary program for our ward. It's a Sunday I look forward to the entire year. The one Sunday were the Primary age kids 4-11 are involved in sharing what they've learned since January. We missed last year because of head lice and well just didn't feel right about sending our itchy head Lea to sit with everyone else even though we picked it up from church. (that's a whole other story, for another time).
Our primary is HUGE! I would say at least 100 kids, not sure how many were there, but it was a wonderful program. Lea's school teacher, Mrs. Noyes, came (she is not a member of our faith, that I know of, but understood how important this was to the kids and came). There are 2 other kids in our ward in Lea's class at school, so I'm not sure who invited her to come, regardless, it was so great to see her there. The kids appreciated seeing her support them outside of school and even former students ran to give hugs and say hello.

The kids boldly and proudly sang the songs they were learning. There was a violin group, 2 small groups of singers, lots of speaking parts, ASL during one song and a combo playing with the organ and piano! With so much going on, you would think it would be utter chaos, but it was so smooth. The kids walked quietly when needed, sang and watched the choristers, stood and sat when prompted by the choristers - it was amazing. There was the occasional hand-wave to the parents or smaller siblings and the ever consistent "yeee -ah" from Abbey in our row - calling for Lea. :) Lea did great and spoke up when it was her turn. She never ceases to amaze me with her ability to speak in front of others - this is so NOT my strong suit. She does great and we're so proud of her! Lea's part was about having a family that loved her and the blessings of having a loving family.

It was a beautiful reminder of the Lord's plan for Eternal Families - I'm so grateful to have this knowledge. I can be with my family through the sealing powers of the priesthood in the Temple, if I do my part. It's not a freebie- it requires work and work it is. :)

Thank you to the Primary Teachers and the Primary Presidency - you work so hard not just on Sundays, but during the week to help my children learn when they come to church. They love to come to church because of their fantastic teachers - they can hardly stand to sit through the first hour of church because they love Primary so much. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Mean mom....

So I'm starting to feel like a mean mom - am I doing something wrong or is it just kids being kids learning to express themselves? I'm hoping for the 'learning' part and not the 'I'm in the wrong' part.

Lea has learned that Mom is not always nice and sometimes she calls me "mean". Sorry - it's part of my job to ask you to work, help out and to tell you "No". We did stop the attitude of "I don't like you" and yes even "I hate you." Hate is now a 4-letter word in our house we no longer use and get busted when used. I'm guessing this came from school because it's not from home. She's learning to use words/expressions bigger than I think 6 year old's should know but it's fun to chat with her about her day.

Lucas today told me (while attempting to get him to take a nap - he did eventually take a nap) "I don't like you mommy." (to myself: Ouch, this is starting to hurt my feelings.)
Me: "Why Lucas?" (trying not to freak out.........breathe....breathe)
L: "Because.... I don't like girls."
Me: I'm a girl and a mommy.
L: No, your hair is down so you're a girl.
I put my hair up: So am I a boy now or a mommy?
L: A mommy.
Me: putting my hair up...mommy....down....girl.....then messy to become a monster and tickled him until he laughed so hard his face turned as red as his hair. :)

Are you a mean mom too? Do you make your kids work and be nice to others!? :)