Rosers

We had some fun snow days in January here. Acadia really had fun playing with her friends, sledding down the hill. :) But I am thinking it won't be quite as fun when she has to stay in school for an extra 4 days this summer. :S

Ryan's birthday was the end of January. For his gift, I gave him tickets to see Blue Man Group last weekend. I turned up sick so I couldn't go, which was really a bummer because the last time we saw them was a blast! I sent him with a friend though and they had a terrific time!

Acadia has received a Flat Stanley from a friend in Idaho. We are supposed to keep him with us for a week or so and then send him back, telling about all the adventures Flat Stanley had. Flat Stanley went to the Blue Man Group concert with Ryan and has been to school with Acadia. He will also get to go to church, gymnastics, and a dance recital before getting sent back home on Valentine's day. :) It's a cute, fun idea for the kids to learn about things in different parts of the country. I really wish we could take Flat Stanley to the gorge or Mt. St. Helens though.

We were planning on it but then Ryan's car broke down yesterday and so he has my car for work until he either fixes or replaces his. Since he works on Saturdays, that means no time to go out for any adventures with Flat Stanley. :(

Fortunately, we were already planning on buying a car soon, so this will only speed that up, if anything. :)

We recently have done more work on our house. In December, we had central heat and air put in and also converted to gas. We bought all new appliances, except for the refrigerator we had purchased new when we bought the house. We still have a lot of work we want to do, but just having the new heat and new appliances is wonderful! :)

There is a lot to look forward to this year! Acadia will be turning 8 in June and will be baptized then! She is excited for the baptism and also to get to go into Activity Days at church. She is currently taking gymnastics and really likes it. She is also taking a little dance class after school. It is just line dancing and square dancing and lasts for only one month, her recital is on Tuesday. Then she will be taking sign language after school for a month, and after that a magic class. It's fun that the school teachers volunteer to teach the kids these things for free if they want. Acadia really enjoys classes like these. :)

Aurora is growing and changing constantly! She has been rolling over both ways and is starting to rock back and forth on her hands and knees. She has been teething but nothing has cut yet. It's funny because the teeth that are bugging her are her eye teeth! Not the normal bottom front teeth that are usually first. Silly girl. But she continues to be a happy, easy baby. She sleeps great! She loves to eat her feet and also loves to stand.

Ryan is busy working and taking an on-line class again. He just had his 10 year anniversary with his employer. That means from now on he gets 4 weeks of vacation per year. Which is really nice since we usually use all our vacation time trying to visit family. :) He is serving in the Elders Quorum presidency which has been a good experience for him.

I am still serving in the YW presidency which is really fun. This year the youth will be doing another Hand Cart Trek in our stake. They will pull handcarts for 3 days straight - about 20 miles or so. They will wear period clothes and have "visitors" come to share pioneer stories with them. They will sing and dance around the campfire at nights and spend their entire time (except for sleeping) working together in family groups. It was an awesome experience for them when they did it 3 years ago... I'm hoping that I can be involved with it somehow this year - maybe go as a photographer or video recorder. We'll see! :)

So, that's the latest on us... I keep a blog that you can read whenever you want. It often talks about the stuff going on around here... www.sariahsays.blog-city.com And Acadia has one too, though she rarely writes in it! lol ... www.http://junebug.blog-city.com/. We also have a on-line photo album that you are free to check up on... http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v128/ryenrye/ (Just click on the sub-albums, it should be fairly easy to navigate... but ask if you have questions!).

We hope everyone is well!

Love, Sariah, Ryan, Acadia, and Aurora

PS. When are our letters "due"? How often are we sending them? :)