PULHAM FAMILY

Best Buds!

2011-11-23T10:09:00.000-08:00

Since day one these two have been best friends. Ryann is such an amazing big sister and because of that Gunner just adores her. Gunner will follow me around the house all day, but as soon as Ryann gets home from school he's off following her around. They will play for hours together in their room, I won't even hear from them. It's so fun seeing their relationship grow.

Afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Great

2011-11-23T10:04:00.000-08:00

Grandma and Grandpa Great came down one afternoon so they could see the kids. Justin and Kara came as well and brought little Gracie. It was fun to see them all together.

Gunner and Bucky

2011-11-23T10:01:00.001-08:00

In November of 2010 Ty shot a buck which he is so proud of to the point that he named him Bucky. Ty, of course, had to get a picture of "his boy and Bucky together" Ty still walks in the door once in a while and says "Man that's a big deer"!

In Nov

Gunner's Blessing

2011-11-23T07:34:00.000-08:00

Gunner Tyree Pulham was blessed by his dad on March 13, 2011. It was such a special day and another one I hope to never forget. After the blessing we went to Bruce and Lori's for brunch. I made quiche and they were fabulous if I do say so myself.

Pat and Leland with the three babies

Trace, Gracie and Gunner

Smiling as usual

Temple Sealing

2011-07-14T06:22:00.001-07:00

Easter!

2011-06-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday was a lot of fun this year because we had Ryann with us and now little Gunner. Our church starts at 9 am so we got up at about 7 to find what the easter bunny left behind so G wasn't awake but Ryann sure enjoyed finding it all for the both of them.

Gunner's new playmat. He loved it for a while but then figured out how to roll around and now won't stay on it.

Ry in her new Easter dress.

The beautiful bulbs I planted last fall. The most reaping I've ever had from anything I ever sowed in the ground.

Sledding!

2011-03-23T14:22:00.001-07:00

At the beginning of March we got a heavy snowstorm on a Saturday afternoon so we decided to take advantage of it and go sledding.

Ty surfed down the hill
Hot sexy man!!

Ryann loved the sledding and used Grammy's little one seater sled. It looked like a plastic shovel that you sat on to ride down the hill. She got pretty good at it and started riding it like a bull with one hand. She's quite the little cowgirl!

We bundled our little G-Baby up quite heavily and mom still just held him under a blanket and he slept the whole time. It was snowing a lot and was very cold.

I love his little camo hat with the fuzzy flaps that cover the ears. Such a cute little guy!

2 Months Old

2011-03-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

Our little guy is already two months old!! Time has flown by so fast and he's getting bigger and bigger everyday, literally. When he was six days old he had already grown a pound which the doctor said is how much a baby normally grows in a month. In two months he's gone from 6 lbs 13 oz to almost 12 pounds. He's such a happy, content baby, just loves to sit on the couch and look around. He also usually only wakes up twice during the night as well. And even though Ryann had her heart set on a sister, she couldn't be more happy to have a little brother. She's an amazing helper and can even feed and burp him by herself. We sure love having our little Gunnery Seargent.

This is one of my favorite pics. I love his little mischievous smirk.
Ty was holding Gunner at dinner and the light was in his eyes so he did this and then fell asleep.

Gunner's first bath.

Holding the toy gun he got from Grandma Lori and Grandpa Bruce

The John Deere boots they gave him too.

A New Year Brings a New Baby!

2011-03-03T18:34:00.000-08:00

Well 2011 has begun and we got to begin the new year with our new little one. On January 3 my water began to leak so I checked into the hospital and the joyous event of childbirth began. I was in labor for 12 hours before Gunner Tyree Pulham arrived at 2:45 am on January 4. The delivery wasn't terrible once the second epidural the anesthesiologist gave me finally kicked in and what a gift that epidural was! All of us were so happy to have him here and couldn't have asked for a better way to begin the year.

Getting ready to go home, finally! I'm not cut out for taking it easy in a hospital bed. I got to the point where I was going out to the nurses station to ask for stuff just so I could get out of bed and do something.

Christmas 2010

2011-02-17T15:26:00.000-08:00

So these are our pictures from Christmas that I'm finally getting around to blogging about. The pics are somewhat blurry because for some reason my camera chose the ironically great timing to decide not to work that morning so Ty took all these on his phone.
The new plates Ty got me for christmas because all the ones we got from our wedding were all chipped. They don't really have a white stripe around the center that's just the glare. They're just red. I also got a four piece set in brown as well.

Ryann's new art set since she LOVES coloring so much.

Opening my new duck hunting waders

Showing off the sexy neoprene baby belly!!

We decided to make duck hunting on Christmas afternoon a family tradition. I know, it doesn't get much better looking than that!

Christmas eve, Ryann opening her pajamas

Mr. and Mrs. Clause came to a street fair in Payson this year, it was cold and needless to say we didn't have to wait in line very long because there were not many people

Ty's Deer Hunt

2010-12-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

This year Ty got to go on the big deer hunt with Bruce, Lori, and Baylee down near Monticello, back at the beginning of November. Unfortunately Ry and I did not get to go but we're sure glad that dad had a good time. Ty got his deer the second day out just before dark. They had to leave it for the night because it was too dark to get it out of the valley that he shot it in. So they went back the next day. It measured 29 1/2 inches and scored 185. Way to go Hunny! Justin is in the process of mounting it for us and Ty has already named it Bucky.
When he got home we cut up all the meat and got some steaks and a few roasts out of it but because it was an older buck it was pretty grisly so we jerked a bunch of it which started Ty's obsession with curing and dehydrating meat. Since making deer jerky he has experimented with jerking a mixture of deer and ground beef, goose (which was surprisingly his favorite) and duck, all of which have been successful. Now he wants his own dehydrator for christmas. Lol.

Nov. 30

2010-11-30T16:07:00.001-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. The funny things Ryann says that make me laugh
2. The times Ryann eats her dinner without a fight
3. That tomorrow will be December and I'll be that much closer to my due date

Nov. 29

2010-11-30T16:04:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Frozen foods so I don't have to cook
2. Having a job to help support my family
3. The times Ty calls me just to say "I love you"

Nov. 28

2010-11-30T16:03:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Digital photos. So much easier!!
2. Blogging. It's the closest I'll ever get to scrapbooking
3. My Bed

Nov. 27

2010-11-30T11:22:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. The Man from Snowy River, what a good movie!
2. My computer
3. Disposable diapers. Just remembering grandpa telling me about washing the cloth diapers in the toilet. YUCK!

Nov. 26

2010-11-30T11:21:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. The radio playing christmas music
2. The holiday season and the happiness it brings
3. Looking at the christmas lights all the neighbors put up

Nov. 25

2010-11-30T11:20:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Thanksgiving!!!
2. Turkey and mashed potatoes!!!
3. Pumpkin Pie!!!

Nov. 24

2010-11-30T11:03:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Not being as cramped as our downstairs renters
2. Having a husband who doesn't get mad at me when I forget to do important things
3. Feeling this baby kick me even though it drives me nuts cause I know he's healthy

Nov. 23

2010-11-30T11:00:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Almost being done with this pregnancy!!
2. Free afternoons to myself which will be ending shortly.
3. Unanswered prayers

Nov. 22

2010-11-22T10:08:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. My education
2. Putting my feet up at the end of a long day and relaxing with my family
3. The guys who plow the roads when it snows.

Nov. 21

2010-11-22T10:05:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. The days Ty gets home from working out of town
2. Pasta and Italian food, mmmmmmmm. My favorite during this pregnancy
3. Turning in my final grades at the end of the quarter. Such a good feeling!

Nov. 20

2010-11-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. The gorgeous mountains. The one good thing about Utah :)
2. An unnamed woman and her poor choices which in turn blessed me with a wonderful husband and beautiful daughter.
3. Answered prayers

Nov. 19

2010-11-22T09:57:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Having a job in these hard times
2. My persistence and sense of drive and hardwork
3. The very occasional mornings I get to sleep in

Nov. 18

2010-11-22T09:56:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Camille's surgery going so smoothly
2. My brother in law Ryan who takes such good care of her and their girls
3. Unlimited cell phone minutes so I can talk to my sisters as much as I want since they live so far away.

Nov. 17

2010-11-22T09:54:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Having two grandmas close by who are so willing to help take care of Ryann at the drop of a hat.
2. Not falling asleep while driving to work at 5:30 in the morning
3. The internet! Need I say more!

Nov. 16

2010-11-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. The sweet moments when Ryann asks me to hold her and just sits quietly on my lap
2. Heat in our house
3. Ty making me laugh

Nov. 15

2010-11-21T11:43:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Not having a coffee table taking up our entire living room anymore. YAY!
2. My scriptures, even though I don't read them enough.
3. Ryann preferring the Food Network over the Disney channel lately.

Nov. 14

2010-11-21T11:41:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Having Hailey close by so she can come hang with me on some weekends.
2. Good friends who take the time to make gifts for the new baby.
3. The funny smirks followed by "I love you" from my sweet husband

Nov. 13

2010-11-21T11:40:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Having food in the fridge and in storage
2. Having the bills paid and still having a little money in my account
3. Tums. Dang heartburn!!

Nov. 12

2010-11-21T11:39:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Listening to Ty using funny voices while reading books to Ryann
2. Fresh snow on the ground. Makes me so happy!!
3. Having a clean kitchen.

Nov. 11

2010-11-15T07:31:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. The deer my husband killed and the meat that is now sitting in our freezer
2. Doctors and modern medicine
3. Having a husband that I can go to the temple with

Nov. 10

2010-11-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. The new dishwasher my amazing husband put in for me!
2. Not having clean dishes sitting on my counter to dry
3. The soothing sound of a running dishwasher at night.

Nov. 9

2010-11-15T07:28:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Only having 4 more weeks until my maternity leave starts
2. Vaseline. Stretch mark free so far!
3. Good co-workers who cover my back

Nov. 8

2010-11-15T07:26:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Students who give a damn and make my job worthwhile
2. Being able to fail a student who doesn't do their work
3. My John Deere ruler, it's perfect for croissant demos

Nov. 7

2010-11-15T07:25:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. A car with heat and that's freakin awesome!
2. Rainy days every once in a while
3. Being done with my bachelor's degree and not having homework

Nov. 6

2010-11-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Ryann being out of good Halloween candy so that I don't eat it
2. Being done with my Bachelor's degree
3. The priesthood in my home

Nov. 5

2010-11-10T17:39:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. A new oven that bakes evenly
2. The blessings that come from paying tithing
3. My John Deere blanket that I love so much

Nov. 4

2010-11-10T17:37:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. 3 sisters that are my best friends
2. Good friends that live near by
3. Having a mom that lives close and is involved in my life

Nov. 3

2010-11-10T17:33:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. The nights my husband makes dinner so I don't have to
2. My passion for the industry that I work in
3. The blood orange hot chocolate that is no longer available :(

Nov. 2

2010-11-10T17:32:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. Diet pepsi!
2. The smell of people starting their fireplaces for the first time
3. The sound of crunching leaves

Nov. 1

2010-11-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...
1. A sweet and loving husband who works hard and takes care of his family
2. A daughter who keeps me on my toes
3. A very active little boy that is growing inside my belly

I'm Thankful For...

2010-11-10T17:27:00.000-08:00

Last year for the month of November Camille and Tawnya wrote three things on their blog everyday that they were thankful for. I decided to do this in order to focus more on the blessings that I have. It's already almost two weeks into the month so I have a little bit of catching up to do but here goes.

Prego Cousins

2010-10-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Jenni was able to make it back to Utah for a visit so Ryann and I spent the afternoon visiting with her and Aaron who had just gotten back from New York. It was so great to catch up with them and since we've both got little ones giving us beloved stretch marks, pushing on our bladders and kicking us in the ribs we decided we had to capture the blessed time in pictures.
I'm 7 months now and Jenni is 3 weeks from her due date.

Our Little Booger

2010-10-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

I was looking through some of Ryann's picture and there are so many good ones of her that I had to post them. Such a cute little girl who is becoming such a big helper. We're very blessed to have her in our lives and part of our family.

Fall Pictures

2010-10-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

Grandma Lori bought Halloween outfits for Lily and Ryann so of course they had to have a photo shoot. So the three of them and aunt Baylee went up Payson canyon to take pictures.

Baby BOY Pulham

2010-09-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

September 7 we found out that our baby is actually a boy. We were super excited, all of us except for Ryann that is. Ty and Ry came to the ultrasound with me and she was soooo excited and stood on a stool next to me watching the tv as the doctor did the ultrasound, but as soon as the doc said she was going to have a brother her face dropped and she crossed her arms and began to argue with the doctor saying that the baby is a girl. She got very upset until Ty told her that having a brother was a good thing because she could put makeup on him and dress him up. After hearing this she got very excited and has been since. She now rubs my belly and says "HI BOY". Proof of our little one's boyhood

This is a profile shot and shows very clearly that he has Tyree's large lips, very cute!

Losing the Training Wheels

2010-09-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

Today Ry made her first attempt at riding her bike without the training wheels. She didn't quite get it on the first attempt but made some good progress.

Dad's pep talk

State Fair

2010-09-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

September 12 we went with the whole Pulham family to the State Fair. It was lots of fun to see the kids riding the rides and looking at all the animals. We saw a big mama pig in one of the barns that had like 10 piglets and we got to see them all suck on their mom. When they were doing this the babies kept tugging on the mom while they were trying to eat and Ry got this horrified look on her face and said "mom is that what our baby is gonna do to you?" It was really funny.

The three Pulham Prego's!

Ryann, Hailey (the granddaughter of a friend of the Pulham Family, and Lily)

Riding the Merry-Go-Round

Tyree's dream vehicle

You Scream, I Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream

2010-09-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

Ryann was given some money for her birthday from a grandma so one day when the ice cream truck was coming by guess what she wanted to spend it on. I just thought it was so adorable with her standing, or more like dancing around, on the corner waiting for the ice cream truck to pull up. Plus the princess outfit just tops it off!

Ryann's First Day of Kindergarten

2010-09-19T18:40:00.000-07:00

This is how excited Ry was for her first day of Kindergarten. She spent 3 weeks prior talking about what outfit to wear, how to do her hair, what shoes she was going to wear on her first day. It was bittersweet for me. I shed a few tears walking out the door cause I can't believe my little girl has gotten so big, she looked so grown up in the classroom. But she was so excited so I was excited for her.

Payson Onion Days

2010-09-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend Payson celebrated their annual onion days. We went to the parade and then spent the afternoon at the carnival. Ryann and Glenn and Mandi's kids enjoyed all the floats and picking up all the candy, although their was some lady sitting next to us that kept rushing for all the candy and gave the kids a run for their money. It was a fun day.

Pulham Family Pictures

2010-09-19T18:21:00.001-07:00

Back in March, I believe, we took some pictures of the whole Pulham family and these are a few of them.

Baby Pulham's First Pic

2010-06-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

This is our new baby's first picture!! My first appointment was June 14th and at that time I was nine weeks. I will now be 11 weeks on Monday. Only one more week til my second trimester which I'm so so excited because I'm hoping it's really as much easier than the first trimester as people say. I have been lucky in the fact that I haven't really been pregnant sick much, but because your immune system lowers so much during pregnancy I have caught everything you can imagine. If somebody even remotely sick breathes in my direction I catch it. Now I seem to have contracted allergies which I have never had before and I'm beginning to wonder if they might kill me because they're so miserable!
But we're so excited to have this new little come into our lives. Ryann is already doing such a good job at getting ready to be a big sister and could not be more excited. She hugs and kisses the baby as much as she can (well, my belly) and talks to it all the time. It's very cute.
When I showed her the ultrasound picture though she was quite disappointed. She said "I thought there was a baby in your tummy mom, not a jellybean!" She sure makes us laugh.

The "Mexicans" Come for a Visit

2010-06-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

Because Camille and Lindsay live in New Mexico, Ryann always refers to their kids as "Her Mexican Cousins". She even asked me one time if they spoke Spanish. LOL.
Anyway, the last few weeks they've been up for a visit which has been so great! Lindsay was only able to stay for a week so we missed her when she left. But Cam and the girls were able to stay for a whole 3 weeks which has been so great! McKenzie and Ryann have had such a ball playing together. They didn't get along very well at the wedding so it was a pleasant surprise to see them have such fun together. Wherever one was, the other wasn't far behind. Here are a few pics from the trip. I don't have many now because Camille and Lindsay took most of them as usual. I will have to post more when they send them to me.

The girls loved playing dress ups and "Hair" all day long!

Hayzen insisted on wearing this skirt most days he was at Grammy's. When he would come to our house, he would complete the ensemble with some of Ryann's sunglasses or sometimes a tiara. Good thing Matt wasn't here!

Camping

2010-05-05T18:38:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we decided to take our new truck, which we have officially named Gumby, and take the family camping. Payson canyon was closed so we went out west of Lehi near Tyree's grandparents. It was a complete blast! We got there late afternoon, set up camp then made tinfoil dinners. Then we roasted smore's, starbursts (thanks to Hailey) and played candyland. We had a ton of fun and were so glad Hay Hay (as Ty calls her) could come with us.

"In a minute mom!"

2010-04-16T13:28:00.000-07:00

One of Ryann's favorite things to do is "help" mom clean the bathroom.
I asked Ry to clean her room one day and she used the same excuse we've all used, "in a minute mom" and everytime I would walk in her room to check on her progress she would be playing with her toys. We had decided to have pizza that night for dinner but I told her she couldn't have any til her room was clean and she said "that's fine." When she asked if she could watch tv I told her not until her room was clean and she said "that's fine." Then I started to clean the bathroom and she asked if she could help but I told her not until her room was clean. She immediately hopped up, yelled "okay mom!" and ten minutes later I had a clean bedroom plus a cleaning buddy. It made me laugh that the only motivator for her was scrubbing toilets!.This could come in very handy in a few years!

Princess Day

2010-04-16T13:23:00.001-07:00

Last week Ryann and I spent a whole day playing princesses. I pulled out one of my old prom dresses which was only a little bit tight, yeah! lol. We sat around at home watching movies and eating our weight in popcorn in our dresses, then we took a nap in our dresses and went to dinner at McDonald's (Ryann's choice) in our dresses. We ended the day by visiting grammy. I had a woman at McDonald's ask me if I was Ryann's sister. When I told her I was her mom, she said "man they keep getting younger every year." That made my day! But my favorite part was just hanging out with my little sidekick all day.

Church Ball

2010-04-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

For about the last month and a half Ty has been playing in the Church ball tournament. It went on for a long time because his team did so well. They made it to the finals game undefeated, but ended up losing and taking second. It was fun watching him play.

Concrete Art

2010-04-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

We finally had a somewhat shiny but not warm, day in Payson a few weeks ago so Ry and I took advantage of it by pulling out her new sidewalk chalk and showing off our truly artistic skills. By the end of it we grew tired of writing on concrete and moved on to face painting.

O-Live-Juice

2010-04-16T13:06:00.000-07:00

Ry was helping me make dinner one night and when I turned back around to use the olives she had already eaten most of the can!

Valentine's Day

2010-04-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

So I'm way behind on my blogging so I'm going back to recap the latest happenings in the Pulham Family.
These are the beautiful flowers my sweet husband bought me for Valentine's Day. He disappeared that morning and came back with flowers for me and a giant teddy and rose for Ryann. That night he took his two girls to a movie and then to dinner at Tepanyaki. It was a lot of fun, especially watching Ryann's reaction to all the cooking. The chef that cooked our food kept teasing her and making her laugh, it was hilarious. Then at the end of the meal Ry tapped our waiter on the shoulder and asked him "how much is it to buy these sticks" (chopsticks) when he told her they were free to take she said "wow that's convenient!" We couldn't quit laughing!
Thanks hunny for being so sweet to your girls!

The Wedding!

2010-03-01T13:39:00.000-08:00

First kiss as husband and wife.

Lindsay recently finished editing some of the photos from the wedding so I'm backtracking a bit to post some of those. She did an AMAZING job and we are very happy with how they turned out.
The wedding itself was a beautiful day. A little stressful at first because I was worried about the barbecued beef (of course I would be worried about the food I was making!) but it all turned out. We got the pictures taken which took much longer than Ty wanted it too, needless to say, he and Ryann were sick of smiling for the camera after a few hours :) Bishop Carter gave some great words of advice before the ceremony. The thing I remember the most and will try to always remember and implement is to remember that your spouse was raised differently so if they have different views or do things differently than you, just be accepting and don't judge. I think this is something good to always live by. So thanks to all my family and new in-laws for all that you did to make it a memorable day for the new little Pulham family.

Married Life

2010-02-11T17:17:00.000-08:00

Well I don't have any pictures to post of the blessed event yet because Lindsay is still in the process of editing them, but I'm very excited to see how they turn out.
Today is Ty, Ryann, and my one week anniversary of being a family and things have been absolutely wonderful. I'm convinced more and more everyday through all the little things Ty does, that I have the greatest husband ever. Heavenly Father completely knew what he was doing when he put Ty in my path. And little Ry is adjusting very well. It's still different for me getting used to being called mommy all the time but I love it. Her and I have a very special relationship that I wouldn't trade for anything. So to all of you that told me marriage was worth all the hard work, when I was too scared to ever give marriage a chance, well you were all right.

2010-01-29T22:36:00.000-08:00

Just a few engagement photos

Temple Endowments

2010-01-29T22:31:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago I got the amazing opportunity to attend the temple and receive my endowments. It was a long hard road getting there but completely worth it. It's too difficult to put into words the feelings and wonderful experience it was so I'm not even going to try, but I'm very grateful for temples and the fact that I am now able to attend whenever I want.
I went through the Mt. Timpanogas temple on January 15. Mandi and Glenn, mom, Bruce and Lori, Tawnya and Landon and of course my sweetheart Ty. I was very grateful to be able to share this experience with him. It made me realize how much I love and appreciate him.
Last night we went to ward temple night so I attended for a second time, and then dinner afterwards. It was SO much fun. Ty and I always have a good time together, but I realized on our way home how few dates we've actually been on with just the two of us, and how much fun they are. He had me laughing hysterically all night! I'm a lucky lucky girl!

Funny Quotes

2010-01-03T08:43:00.000-08:00

I've made it a note to try and keep a journal of all the funny things Ryann says because she's hilarious! I haven't gotten the notebook yet to start writing them down, so I'm sharing this with everyone because it's funny and then I have it written somewhere so I don't forget.
The three of us were watching Iron Chef America the other night and Ryann was so intrigued by it all and kept saying that we should go visit that place so we could watch them make the food. Then out of nowhere she said " I hope they make kids meals though because I don't know if I would like the food very much." Ty and I were laughing so hard.

New Year's Resolution

2009-12-28T18:51:00.001-08:00

So I have made a new year's resolution to keep up with my blog and check me out, it's not even the new year and I've done three posts already! WOOHOO!! And now that I have something to blog about and a camera to take pics to post, it will actually be worth it.

So as a quick catch up I am now engaged to Tyree Pulham after dating for six months. We're planning a February wedding and Ty, myself and his 4-year old daughter, Ryann, are all very excited.

Ty and I met back in July when my mom hired him to paint her new house in Payson. My mom gave him my number to discuss the colors of paint, but he used it after the job was done to ask me out, which I of course was completely excited about. I even did my excited little dance which Mandi can vouch to. We went fishing on our first date and he made tinfoil dinners which burned so we ended up eating at Wingers. He says he was embarrassed about burning the dinner, but I thought it was adorable. Anyway, it turned out okay obviously cause I said yes to his proposal.

Lots of exciting stuff for the new year!!

Christmas 2009 in New Mexico

2009-12-28T17:39:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas Quinn, Hailey, Mom and me drove down to New Mexico to spend it with Camille and Lindsay and their families. It was an extremely LONG drive and terrible weather but we made it!! It was a ton of fun spending time together and just hanging out. I was only able to stay for 5 days and then flew home and the rest of them will be driving back after the new year. Here are some of the photographic loggings of the trip.

The three coolest sisters at the airport just before I flew home.

Adrie loves Roxie

Stylin it up with McKenzie's princess crown

Hayzen was enjoying all the chocolate

The girls loved their new kitchen set

Cam, Linds and I comparing our rings.

Lindsay took us to Joe's Boot Barn and we found the statues outside quite entertaining.

Christmas Party in Holden

2009-12-28T17:20:00.000-08:00

These are pictures from the Christmas party that Greg and Kaylynn had at their home this year.

Letter to Ty from Quinn.

Letter to me from Quinn

Letter to me from Hailey

Landon's war wound after the elastic band war between Quinn, Ty, Landon and me.

Our little cancer patient. Ha Ha. Reese wanted to try on Hailey's new beanie and gloves.

Landon received an amazingly awesome brushpopper from Camille with a note that read " Here's to owning the last one ever!" She's so creative! lol

Quinn's new elastic guns

Hailey's blingin purse.

Tyree and Ryann with her new doll from Greg and Kaylynn.

I LOVE this pic. She was so excited to get her Belle doll and asked Kaylynn "How did you know I love princesses, are you magic??"

Testing out the new camera my sweetheart Ty got me for Christmas.

My handsome husband to be.

And our cute little girl.

Adventures in Utah

2009-03-17T22:39:00.000-07:00

Lindsay has been bugging me about updating my blog so here goes. I don't have any pictures since my camera is on the fritz but A LOT has definitely changed since my last post. I moved back to Utah at the end of December, not necessarily because I wanted to, but I felt that it was right. And the first few weeks were very very hard, missing new york and my family out there so much. But things got better. I actually made a phone call to the AI of Salt Lake on my drive to Utah, to hopefully be placed in a job and as it turned out, they were looking for a pastry chef instructor. So I got the position three days before the quarter started as long as I agreed to attend school to finish my 4-year degree. So not only am I teaching full time, but I'm also attending UVU full time as well. I'm definitely stretched thin, but I'm doing really well, and adjusting back to life in mormonville USA. I absolutely love my job, it's so crazy being the instructor when it was me being the student not so long ago. And to have the students call me "chef", and getting to make all the decisions and share my culinary knowledge with them! It's so great!! Plus it's been awesome being near Amy and Tony again. We get together a few times a week at minimum. And Glenn and Mandi live right around the corner so I'm over there several times a week. They've been a huge blessing in mine and mom and Hailey's lives. We couldn't thank them enough. It's also a lot of fun living with mom and Hailey, just hanging out and what have you, and being near the rest of the fam.
I am still planning on returning back to NY but it will probably be a lot later than I planned. I will most likely stay here until I finish my degree which could be either December or next April depending on the classes. It's been a hard road, but it's getting better and the Lord is definitely blessing me in His own ways.

wow, it really has been a long time!

2008-11-28T10:59:00.001-08:00

Well, i'm still a total loser and have nothing to post other than one cake. My camera broke so I haven't been taking any pictures which is a big reason for not posting anything new. But the story on this cake is pretty cool. A lady came into our shop the other day and said she was a publisher for a bridal magazine and had seen one of our cakes at a wedding and wanted to publish it. So she said she would email me a pic of it so we could give her a description to put with the picture. Low and behold it was one of my cakes that I decorated!! So as of January's issue of this magazine, I will be a published artist! It's def not one of my favorite cakes, so I don't know why she liked it so much, but she raved about it, so that made my day.

Oh Poppycock!!

2008-10-04T22:19:00.000-07:00

Again I apologize for the huge gap between posts. Life has been crazy, plus we didn't have internet until yesterday, and now I don't know how I ever lived without it. Not too much is new. I am a scout leader for the 10 year olds, and call me unrighteous, but it is definitely not my favorite calling. But I'm working on it, hopefully the Lord bears with me. Still continuing to work, and just enjoying being with the Sisson family. Here are some more photos from times at the lake and freezing corn.

2008-10-04T22:08:00.000-07:00

I got to just drip and splatter on this one like a first grade art project. It was awesome!
chocolate fondant. Very weird and crappy to work with.

Summer's baby shower, cupcake basket

Dave's birthday cake
Dave and his cake

2008-07-23T18:54:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been sooooo long since i've updated. Busy, Busy Busy!! plus our internet has been down so i only have access when i'm at tim and amy's but here is what i've been working on. hope you enjoy them, and let me know if you have any feed back cause i can always use the improvement!!

I hand placed every single one of these beads on by hand, with tweezers. it took over 8 hours!!!!

Mama Sisson's Birthday Cake
Papa Sisson's birthday cake. it started to fall apart a little in the car ride home!

My final project at school
and he's not missing an eye, he's playing peek a boo!

Cakes, Cakes and More Cakes

2008-06-01T19:35:00.001-07:00

These are the cakes I've done in the last few weeks. It has been insanely busy because we had two buildings in two weeks and apparently this is very rare. This first building was the second of the two buildings and as you can tell, it is definitely an improvement. The first one (which is the castle looking one) my supervisor did about 25% of the work, but this second one I did entirely by myself which was the coolest thing ever!! I spent about 25 hours total in a two day period doing this cake start to finish. I also got to help deliver it and the people at the school who ordered it were thrilled. They loved it, and it just made my work even more worth it to know that our clients liked my work. When I got to work the next morning my boss had put out a note for me telling me that i did a good job, and she had put $100 in the envelope which she said was a bonus for my work on this building. It was very sweet of her and such a great opportunity!
It's a replica of a building for Union College in Albany. They just remodeled it and were having a big dedicatory ceremony.

This battalion of the army is being sent to Iraq so they had us do a cake for the farewell dinner they were having for the men. I drew all that out in frosting.

These cupcake stand, tier thingy's are the new style and very popular. They look nice but I HATE doing all the stupid little cupcakes. I sure hope they go out of style soon.
I had to do 70 of these.
Another cupcake stand

Another view of the army cake

The other building. We were given 2 days notice on this building so it's not as great as I would have liked but the customer's were happy. It's another replica of a college building in Richmondville

100 Things About Me

2008-06-01T16:20:00.000-07:00

i saw that tawnya wrote 100 things about herself and i thought it was a cute idea and i enjoyed reading them, so i decided to do the same. even though i'm not even close to 200 posts. i think this makes number 17 for me WAHOO!! some you know, but others you probably don't. and i'm sure someday my kids will laugh over some of these things.

1. i love my family
2. i love my nieces and nephews
3. i only want to have one girl and the rest boys someday
4. i want a set of twins
5. i LOVE my job
6. i love where i live because it's so green and beautiful
7. crunching leaves in the fall is one of my favorite sounds
8. diesel engines are my other favorite sound
9. i love the smell of burning weeds, branding cows and gun powder
10. i hate ketchup except for on hashbrowns and tinfoil dinners
11. i love almost all fresh vegetables
12. i love real maple syrup
13. i want to meet emeril lagasse and duff goldman
14. i hate wasting time to capitalize when i'm typing
15. i have to have my toilet paper roll from the top
16. i organize my credit cards
17. i alphabetize my movies
18. i really like boys
19. i had my first kiss when i was 12
20. my mom gave me a haircut when i was little that made me look like the mushroom guy on mario brothers
21. i talk in my sleep
22. i never taste my food when cooking, i judge it's flavor by smelling it
23. eggs were the first thing i ever cooked.
24. i've only been bucked off a horse once
25. i've never had a mosquito bite
26. i'd never had stitches until a month ago, and now i'm known as scarface. ha ha
27. i love hunting
28. i love my horse and want to bury him in the family plot (or at least the garden)
29. my first cow susie rode home in the the front seat with dad and me when i was 5 and sucked my fingers the whole way
30. i used to have a lamb that would give me ticks when i bottle fed it. i never named it and i'm not sure why
31. i hate r & b music
32. potato salad is probably my favoritest food (if it's done right)
33. my sisters are my best friends
34. i only lied to my parents once in high school, and felt so guilty that i told them the next day
35. i have a very extensive driving record
36. i have 3 metal screws in my knee
37. those screws set off the metal detectors at the sacramento airport once and i had to be rubbed down by a security guard
38. i'm extremely accident prone
39. there is good reason for my nickname shortbus
40. i made a piglet cake at work last week and laughed!
41. i hated it when camille did my hair as a kid because she would hurt me and call me a baby plus she use to rat it and give me wings on the side of my head! she never got out of the 80's hairdo's i guess. lol
42. the man from snowy river is my favorite movie
43. i love my sunday afternoon naps
44. i love the rain and lightning storms
45. my friends and i used to do drive by shootings in college with marshmallow guns
46. i won the spelling bee twice in middle school
47. i took third place in district
48. i won an award in sixth grade for a poem i wrote
49. i still have a boss from years ago that calls me on my birthday
50. i secretly love it when little kids swear because i think it's hilarious!
51. i love the smell of babies, but who doesn't
52. thai food is my new favorite cuisine
53. i HATE the city
54. it is my favorite thing to watch people trip, there is nothing funnier!!
55. i love to laugh
56. comedies are my favorite movies followed closely by action
57. hearing, reading, or seeing anthing about soldiers makes me cry
58. i've only killed one deer in my whole life
59. i have slayed many many rabbits
60. rabbit hunting with quinn is high on my list of favorite things to do
61. i've read over 1000 books in my life, i've written them all down
62. i love to collect quotes
63. i hate scrapbooking but wished i liked it because i think they're so neat
64. i hate fancy restaurants, they make me feel out of place
65. i cry very easily over sentimental things
66. i consider myself a hard-worker
67. i worry daily that i won't be a good wife
68. i work better under stress because then i don't procrastinate
69. i've read the whole harry potter series 5 times
70. i've read the whole marry poppins series 4 times
71. i collect childrens books
72. i want to teach a class on childrens literature someday
73. when i retire i want to teach at a culinary school
74. i miss my grandma everyday
75. i still have my baby blanket and pull it out occasionally. i would more often but the fabric is so fragile that it pretty much disintegrates when you touch it.
76. i have every letter i've ever received in a box (a few boxes actually), including every note from mom and friends
77. i think my mom is one of the toughest women i know
78. i've spit off the top of the empire state building
79. i always wanted a pet elephant growing up, and still think it would be pretty cool. imagine cleaning that stall lindsay! lol
80. landon and i used to eat "cheesies" when we were kids which after growing up, i realized are actually just a weed. thanks big brother!
81. i also have my brother to thank for getting me to lick a frozen pole, try chew and beer, and eating a fried banana because he said he would too even though he lied and just laughed when i ate it and he didn't!!
82. bananas are the food i despise the most and can't even eat out of politeness
83. i've had to do the heimlich on mckenzie twice
84. i cried after the first time it happened
85. i've been arrested once
86. nobody at school here in ny knows my name, i'm known and referred to as "utah" by everyone
87. i love weddings, they make me smile
88. "fishin in the dark" is the one song that can ALWAYS make me smile no matter the mood
89. i have a friend in another country
90. your mom goes to college!!
91. i need some chapstick cause my lips hurt real bad!!
92. i hate the feel of dry dirt on my hands when i'm gardening or planting flowers
93. i hate painting my fingernails, but have to always have my toenails painted
94. red is my favorite color recently, i'm sure it will change though
95. if i had one wish it would be to have a good singing voice
96. i love to quilt and wish i had more time for it
97. i've always chewed the same flavor and brand of gum. peppermint extra
98. i can't go anywhere without my chapstick and mint is my favorite flavor
99. i have to marry a good looking husband because i really really want beautiful kids
100. i just love life in general and after many years of working hard to become this way, i now consider myself an optimistic person.

Giv'n a Holla from the East Coast

2008-05-18T19:47:00.000-07:00

Well I don't have really anything exciting to report other that things are still going wonderfully and amazingly well! I was talking to a friend the other day about jobs and what we do in our spare time and I told him that I would still want to do what I do for a living, in my spare time. And I realized how lucky and blessed I am cause how many people can say that? How many people love their jobs enough to want to do it all the time? So I feel very lucky to, as dad would say, "Have something to be excited about when you get up in the morning." So thanks dad for always teaching us the importance of this principle, it definitely stuck with me and after lots of work and school I am now being able to utilize it.
I don't have pictures of my latest work as of yet because I wasn't wearing my pink helmet on the short bus I guess, and I left my camera at school. But I took pictures on my boss's camera and she is going to email them to me. I was very excited this week though because my boss let me do my first wedding cake, start to finish, all by myself. I have been helping her with them, but never allowed to do one all by myself. I guess I'm improving or something, for her to trust me with that responsibility. I'm sure you all laugh at me and I know this makes me sound like a geek, but it is such a rush to work on these cakes and then see the finished product, and think "wow, I did that!"
Plus I got to make a John Deere cake this week!!! It was awesome!! My boss had never done one before and she knows how much I love John Deere so she saved it for me and just told me to figure out how to carve it and build it, and then just run with it. So I did. I wasn't able to spend as much time as I would have liked because it was just a small birthday cake, but I think I've come up with ways to improve it. It did turn out very adorable though if I do say so myself.
Okay, okay. I'm sorry all I ever talk about is cakes. I wish I could say there was more going on in my life though, but there isn't too much. I'm so busy between school and work and traveling between the two that I don't have time for much else. I have been on some dates though with some guys upstate, which I have to say, I definitely prefer the upstate guys to the ones downstate. They're a little more rugged and more to my liking, although none are worth mentioning in detail. I also really like the ward a lot, everyone is very friendly. All in all life is fabulous! So to quote Robin Hood "OODALOLLY OODALOLLY!!" (and yes, I came up with the spelling all by myself! I'm not a spelling bee champ for nothin, ya know!)

Turkey Hunting

2008-05-05T18:34:00.000-07:00

Well so far this is all I have to show for my attempts at turkey hunting. Ridiculous I know! I've been out three mornings and two of the three I shot a bird but they both got away. I'm extremely ticked about the whole thing!
So here's the story on how I got my extremely rugged battle wound. I was up in the tree blind which has plexiglass windows that hangs down, and you just prop them open with a piece of wire while you're hunting. Well after waiting for 3 hours, a tom walked out almost right below the tree blind, so I just barely stuck my gun out the window, setting up the shot when the window closed and slammed the scope into my eye which is how I got the black eye and the cut under my eye. This of course scared me because it was the last thing I was expecting and I jumped and shoved the scope up into my forehead giving me the big cut. But even after all this the turkey was still just sitting there, so I took off my sweater and tied it around my forehead to stop the bleeding and took the shot. I hit him and he dropped but he got up and ran away. And I had blood gushing into my eyes so I could barely see to take another shot. I am still so mad about not getting him cause he was huge too!! But I still have a month to get one so that's good. Eight stitches total, 6 on top and two on bottom. But even with the injury I definitely enjoy turkey hunting!! It's been some of the funnest times I've ever had hunting, other than rabbits with Quinn of course!
The ironic thing about it, is that most of the Sisson boys have this exact same scar in the same place from getting hit in the eye with a scope. So when I got home they all hugged me and said "now you're an official member of the Sisson family!" It was pretty funny.

More Cakes

2008-05-05T18:15:00.000-07:00

These are the cupcake baskets we do. We do them in lots of sizes and they're very popular. We made 25 of them for the centerpieces for this particular wedding. It took forever!
I handmade each of those frosting flowers. about 700 total!

This was the wedding cake that went with all the cupcake baskets. They went to australia on their honeymoon. Hence the hideous cake toppers.

Sweet Sixteen party
Elmo
Christening (I even made the shoes!)
Wedding
This is the cake topper. How cute is that!!

Midterm

2008-04-23T08:34:00.000-07:00

Well it's already halfway through the quarter if you can believe it!! I had my midterm today and it went awesome!! i was one of two perfect scores in the whole class. We had to bake a genoise cake, make italian buttercream and then do a few specific piping skills to decorate the cake. I'm lucky because I get lots of practice since this is what I do at my externship, but my chef was very impressed and said he understood why my supervisor at my externship would want to hire me. Only 6 more weeks til graduation!!! YEAH!!!!

2008-04-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of stuff I took along my trek across the U.S. Never again do I want to make this drive, and I decided never should I be left to my own thoughts for such long consecutive hours!! I realized that I not only enjoy speaking to other human beings, but it is necessary! But I made it in one piece and I'm grateful for that.

Display in Cabela's in Nebraska
Never have I been so happy to see a sign before!!
The thing I miss most about Utah (other than the fam, of course!)

The longest and most boring state EVER!!!!!
One of the important things in life. LOL

Job

2008-04-20T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well as some of you may know, others may not, I now have a job in place for after graduation. The externship has been going amazingly well, and I was invited by my supervisor/owner of the cake shop I'm working at, to work for her full time after I graduate. YEAHH!!! I'm very excited about this because I really like working there and I get along great with Joan and the other people that work there. It's a great atmosphere and she's an excellent teacher and very willing to share all of her knowledge with me. Here are most of the cakes I've made at my internship so far::Carousel (very 80's in my opinion, but we give the customer's what the want. Ha Ha)

My Proudest Creation So Far!!

For some people at the Saratoga Raceway

Bridal Shower (I even hand painted the leopard prints on the blanket!! Never knew I was an artist!!)

Externship

2008-04-13T18:27:00.001-07:00

Well I finally have something new to write about. I started my externship this week up in Latham, NY (city just outside of Albany), and I absolutely LOVE LOVE it!!!! It's called Joan's Cake Chateau and owned and run by Joan Bonnier. She is a woman in her late 60's and she does all of the decorating by herself with the occasional help of her granddaughter.
The minute I walked in on the first day she handed me a bag of buttercream and told me to decorate some fondant cutouts for some cupcakes. After that I decorated 50 cupcakes and one cake. She is an excellent teacher and really knows her stuff. Plus she gives me a ton of responsibility and trusts me do decorate on my own. On the second day I walked in and she said that she had saved a horse cake and cowboy boot cake for me since it was my area of expertise. So she just showed me what to do and then left me to it! She doesn't micromanage or hang over my shoulder the whole time. It's very encouraging to have a professional put so much trust in me. I love it!!
And for the most exciting news, as I was getting ready to leave on Saturday, Joan told me that she knew that it was supposed to be an unpaid externship but that I was doing a great job and saving her tons of time and that she wanted to pay me!!! So she is paying me $8 an hour for now which covers all my gas and my train tickets back and forth. This was a complete surprise and such an incredible blessing. Heavenly Father has truly blessed and taken care of me. I promised Heavenly Father back in April of last year that if he would let me know if coming to New York was the right thing to do then I would do whatever it took to gather the funds and come to school. And that I would trust in him to help me make ends meet and have the strength to make the transition and move, and He has truly and 150% kept his end of the deal. I'm so grateful for my blessings and for the gospel. I love what I'm doing and where I am in my life and I don't think I've ever been happier!!

Written Final

2008-03-11T23:25:00.000-07:00

Well I've had some of the family asking what kind of questions are on the written part of my finals so I thought I would post a few sample questions that were on my test today. Quiz yourself and see how much you know!!
1. What is the difference between a Genoise cake and a Chiffon Cake?
2. What temperature do you cook the simple syrup to when making an Italian Buttercream?
3. Name the two types of pastry dough that can be used when making a Napoleon?
4. What do you add to pastry cream to make a Mouselline?
5. Name two natural leaveners
6. Name two chemical leaveners
7. Name the four types of Buttercream frostings
8. To what stage do you cook creme anglaise?
9. What piece of equipment should always be used to heat chocolate?
10. Name the mixing method in making a chiffon cake

Answers:
1. A Genoise cake is a whole egg sponge cake while a Chiffon cake is spong cake using only the egg whites
2. 240 degrees
3. Phyllo and Puff Pastry
4. Whipped Cream
5. Yeast and Steam
6. Baking Powder and Baking Soda
7. Simple, Italian, Swiss, and French
8. Nappe Stage
9. Double Boiler
10. Separated Sponge Method

So how did ya'll do?????

FINALS!!!!

2008-03-10T19:35:00.001-07:00

Well, I can't believe it but I already made it to the end of another quarter. I still have another week of school, but they decided to do the finals the second to last week of school. (No idea why, pretty retarded if you ask me, but whatever!) This was our final project. It's called a Buche De' Noel. It's a traditional Jewish holiday dessert, that is made to look like a log. Normal people call it a Yule log, I'm sure many of you have seen them in christmas catalogs. But since it's not christmas, I decided to make it look like an easter log!! I wish the picture was better though. The final went well though, I got an A, YEAH!! I guess the hardwork paid off again. Tomorrow we have the written final, I just hope I do as well on that one as I did on the practical final today.

Buche De' Noel

Or in my case Buche De' Easter!!

Catch up on last 6 months

2008-03-04T18:33:00.000-08:00

MY FIRST DEER!! One of the top 3 highlights of my life so far!!!
I was christened "A Deer Slayer" that day, with blood from my deer!

At an old fashioned village on Long Island
Cookies I made for a friend in the Marines
Damilyn and me at the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center
Damilyn took me to see the Radio City Rockettes for my birthday
It was the 75th anniversary for the Rockettes

Some friends and me at a New York Giants football game. Coolest thing ever!!
View of NY from across the Hudson River
Taken from on top of the Empire State Building
Amy and me in Central Park
Lighting of the Long Island Christmas Tree

I feel really bad because I haven't exactly been the greatest at keeping my family up to date or sending pictures of what I've been doing. So I am going to post a few pics of a few of the cool things I've done since living here in the big city.

First Blog Entry

2008-03-04T18:10:00.000-08:00

Bread Pudding and Roasted Mango
Yes I know, the uniforms are SOOO not flattering.

Last quarter's kitchen final. (which I got an A on thank you very much!!)
Chef Conte and me

Italian Torte
Birthday Cake

Bavarian Cream Cake

Well my sisters have all started doing a blog and have been trying to get me to for a while, so here you go girls! Although I must warn that it may be somewhat boring because being single and all I don't have a lot of pictures and great things to say about a husband or the kids I don't have. The most exciting thing I could post would probably be pictures of the things I'm making in class, which is fun and exciting for me but probably not for everyone else. Oh well. So I've posted some pictures of a few of the things I've made so far.
For those of you who don't know, I am attending pastry school in New York City. I moved out here at the end of September 2007, so I've been here about 6 months. Wow, I am now an official resident of New York State. Never thought I would ever be able to say that!! It's funny where life leads you. I really love my school and everything I'm learning, and I enjoyed the city for a while, but these country roots just won't go away. Luckily I have a second family that lives in upstate New York, not too far from Albany and they are nice enough to let me come stay with them on weekends occasionally so I can get away from the city and do some real work for a change, like loading hay and chopping wood. I love it and am very grateful for them.
That's the other new exciting news. As part of the curriculum for school, we are required to complete 200 internship hours the last quarter of school and I will be starting my final quarter in April. They normally don't let you go more than 50 miles away from Manhattan but I convinced the school to allow me to do my internship at a cake shop upstate that I really want to work at which is about 250 miles away from the school. They finally agreed and then I was able to get the owner of the cake shop to agree to take me on as an intern. YEAH!! So now I will be able to spend more time away from the city and then once I graduate in June, move upstate permanently and work at the cake shop.
Everything is just falling into place. The Lord has truly blessed me, and taken care of me throughout all of this. I am so grateful for the gospel and the guidance we receive from it.
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