Drawings by Dan

Ryan's brother drew these pictures of our kids and we love them! If you're interested check out his blog at www.drawingsbydan.blogspot.com!

Sneak Preview!

I just went to Meijer today to get Marissa's halloween costume for next year. I came home and asked her if she wanted to be a kitty next year and she was pretty excited. I tried the dress on her to see how it would fit and then she wanted to try on all the little accessories that went with it as well. Then she wanted to wear it the rest of the night. As she was picking up some of her toys I walked by and heard her "meowing" and later she asked me "Mommy, do you want to pet me?"

A little Adventure/Disaster!

So Ryan had his first interview at a residency program on Thursday at Grand Rapids. They paid for a room for him to stay in overnight since there is a dinner the night before the interview. We thought we'd take a little family trip so the kids and I went. Unfortunately, the room was at a bed and breakfast not a hotel, and other med students were staying there as well. I thought we'd be fine but what I what I didn't take into account are two very important things:
1. Marissa is not a quiet child. Even just her talking voice is loud.
2. Devon actually does cry when I put him to bed sometimes - I just don't notice that much because I ignore him and then he usually falls asleep pretty quickly.

What this resulted in was getting after Marissa at night for simply talking, picking up Devon when he made the slightest whimper, and all of us very tired the next day.


However, we still all had fun that night watching "Anastasia" on Ryan's computer, and then the kids and I went to the mall in Grand Rapids during Ryan's interview.



At the mall, I took the kids to play on the rides. Devon thought he was pretty big!




The steering and the floor of the car were at the perfect distance for Devon to grab onto the wheel and pull himself up, which he thought was pretty neat!

Halloween!

Here's my little Tigger!


Here's my little princess!


She was pretty excited to be getting all that candy! She still did not quite get that the more trick or treating she did the more candy she would get, which was a good thing or we might have been out all night!


Little Tigger tuckered out! During the day on Main st. downtown, the businesses invited trick or treaters to come. So Halloween morning we already had enough candy to be done for the day, but it just didn't feel right not to go out at night, too! We wore poor Devon out!


Here she is with a few friends downtown.



Here's Marissa downtown trick or treating.


The day before Halloween, the lds med students had a party. So between our ward halloween party, the med students' party, trick or treating downtown, and trick or treating halloween night these kids got enough Halloween to last them a year:)!

Family Visits!

Ryan and I love visitors and we can just never seem to get enough, but we were all excited to have Grandma Johnson and Jessica and Andrew&family for the weekend. We sure had a full apartment - Marissa was in heaven, but Devon was a little overwhelmed!

Grandma, Jessica and Andrew arrived late Saturday night after Marissa was in bed. We had to wake Marissa up around 10pm to move her out in the front room to sleep with all the kids. However, once she was up she was up! Sometime after midnight all the other kids were asleep but Anna and Marissa were still going strong.


On Sunday, after a big breakfast and before church, we took them to the Arboretum. Here's Grandma with the grandkids!


Anna and Marissa at the Arboretum.


On Monday, we went to Jenny's Market. Here's Grandma with Devon (and casper).


Marissa, Anna, and Ellie in a wagon at the cider mill.


Our family on the straw maze. The kids had a blast running in, around, and on the straw maze with Ryan and Andrew chasing them!


Anna and Marissa.


We didn't get to go on a wagon wide because we went on a Monday and apparently they were too tired from their "big" weekend, but here are all the kids on a wagon.


The kids just hanging around!

Marissa was so sad to see her cousins go, but luckily we could tell her that we'd see them this weekend! I'm sure Marissa will ask all the time if Anna can come to her house - it seems pretty empty now:) We all sure had a great time this weekend and hope we'll get more visitors soon!

Cider Mill and Dexter Apple Daze!

This is at Jenny's Market in Dexter. They have a cute set-up but the only problem is the bees!


We were driving through Dexter on the way to the cider mill and saw that "Dexter Apple Daze" was going on. People had booths set up, there was food, and they had music playing in the center pavilion.


Marissa loves to dance!





They also had a jumping structure and Marissa had a blast jumping!

Family Sport--Tennis....or Golf?

Ryan had quite a bit of time off this summer, which gave us quite a bit of time to play some golf. Unfortunately, neither of us are very good, but we have a good time together. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Earp, we all have some new clubs, which we have been putting to good use!



Look at that stance!



Here's Devon with Marissa's putter. He decided he was not going to be left out - and he probably has the most potential of us all.

More Summer Fun!

Devon wasn't big enough for most of the summer to ride in our bike trailer, but we finally tried it out and the kids seemed to really enjoy it. However, Devon has this habit of not always looking at the things his hands are grabbing. Throughout our bike rides we would often look back and find Devon's arm straight out to the side grabbing Marissa's hair. Marissa would be screaming and Devon would be calmly looking out his little window. It was almost like he was saying to Marissa, "I can bug you and I'm not even trying". Despite this Marissa usually adores Devon and is a great big sister!

Summer Fun!

This summer flew by and I am still in denial that fall is here. It was a gorgeously mild summer, which at any other time probably would have been wonderful. However, we had pool passes and there were just too many days this summer when we would go outside and it wasn't 'pool' weather. When it was hot enough to go Marissa was thrilled. She took a swimming class during which I found she could be bribed to do just about anything. She was not crazy about the idea of putting her head in the water, but after promises of 'big' treats she was brave enough to try. When she would do it I would cheer her and praise her and she would get so excited, almost giddy, to the point where she would dunk her head repeatedly and come up with a huge grin on her face. She did a great job in her class and loves to go swimming!



After Marissa started dunking her head, we went to the pool with little fountains in them and she loved running straight through them!


While Grandma Johnson was here we went to the pool. However, it was one of those mild summer days where it just wasn't hot enough to swim. Obviously, that did not bother Marissa.In fact, she loved it because she had the whole toddler pool and all the toys to herself!


Marissa loves things that are "just her size" and at the pool they had smaller lawn chairs for kids that she thought were pretty neat!

Visit with Grandma!

We loved having Grandma Johnson here for a visit. One of Marissa's favorite things to do with grandma was read books!

Happy Birthday, Marissa!

I can't deny it any longer - Marissa is growing up. There was quite a bit of anticipation on Marissa's part for her birthday to come. This year she understood quite a bit more about birthdays and was excited to turn three. When anyone asked her what she wanted for her birthday she would say "a horn" and then she'd say "and a car" - sure we'll just throw that in there. Ryan found a dollar spot at Walmart with a horn and some little toy cars and she was thrilled to get her horn and cars along with her other presents.

This year, Ryan insisted on a party for her with some friends. She had been into princesses lately so she had a princess party at the park complete with princess cake and a castle pinata. Here are some of our favorite pictures from her birthday!



Marissa with her princess cake! I told her I was sad she was going to turn three, that she is getting too big. She said, "But I will share my cake with you, Mommy. Will that make you happy?"


Marissa was so excited to have Grandma Johnson here for her birthday!


Marissa with her castle pinata - Ryan spent the day before perfecting her homemade pinata and had to convince Marissa that it was going to be cool to smash her pretty castle.


Marissa blowing out her candle - it was windy so Ryan and Mike were trying to keep the candle lit long enough for her to blow it out, which is why you can't actually see her big "3" candle.


Marissa winding up for the first big hit!


Unfortunately, our video camera ran out of tape before this point, but this is when Ryan had to help break the pinata. Marissa literally looked like a little rag doll is his arms as he was trying to swing hard enough to break open the pinata.


Here is Marissa with most of her presents - it was at this point we realized yet again how spoiled she must be! Notice the princess tent, with princess backpack, and princess water bottle.


Here is Marissa with her barbie castle dollhouse. Grandma Johnson thinks she is pretty funny as she tries to see if she can make her presents bigger every year (last year she gave Marissa a kitchen, which she loves along with her dollhouse)!

St. Martin/Sint Maarten

To celebrate getting through three years of med school Ryan and I took a trip to St. Martin during the last of week of July. Here were some of the highlights and lowlights of our fun vacation.

Highlights:
1. Spent days relaxing on their gorgeous beaches with absolutely no agenda.
2. Spent the day on a sailboat that took us around part of the island stopping along the way to snorkel, swim, and play at the beach.
3. Spent time in Phillipsburg and Marigot to shop at the markets and sightsee.
4. Had dessert at a classy French restaurant overlooking a harbor at dusk.
5. Went to a movie without having to worry about a babysitter.
6. Spent some much needed time together as well as with Devon. He was at a perfect age to take because he was sleeping through the night, wasn't moving around, very transportable, and such a happy baby.
7. No Marissa (Which would not have been possible without Grandma Earp who had to put up with Marissa for a whole week!)

Lowlights:
1. No Marissa - She would have LOVED to spend all day at the beach swimming and, more importantly, playing in the sand.
2. No money to do any 'real' shopping.
3. Water was expensive. We went to the French restaurant for dessert, thinking we could still do something fun without having to spend a bunch of money. The waiter came by to ask us if we wanted anything to drink. I typically get water at a restaurant in the states to save money so without thinking I said I would like some water. I realized my mistake when he then asked if we wanted 'sparkling' or 'flat' water. I pretended that that was what I was expecting to hear and politely requested 'flat' water. I thought that would have been better than saying 'just kidding, we're not really thirsty'. Our small, but tasty piece of 'melting chocolate cake' and our 'drink' was a whopping $24--but the view out into the harbor with the sailboats was really quite fun.


Having said all this, obviously we had a fabulous time and it was just what we needed to recharge ourselves for the upcoming fourth and final year of med school!


Devon - loving the beach time!


Orient Beach - look at the beautiful water!


Ryan and Devon Orient Beach


At Pelican resort hanging out at the beach


Devon "Mr. Cool"


Devon - chillin' in the water


The view from the resort pool.


Devon - deer caught in headlights.


The picture didn't turn out great, but this is the view from the French restaurant looking out into the harbor.