Merry Christmas!

We hope the spirit of Christ is in your home this time of year and always. Lots of love to our family and friends, The Baldwin's

5 Years Strong!

Hey Bri guess what?!? Today is our 5th Anniversary (good thing you reminded me earlier this week!). Can you believe it? Well I hardly can. I just need to tell you a few things even though it might embarrass you. Looking back we might have been a little bold to get married within 4 1/2 months of meeting.....but all that eagerness has paid off! There was something incredible about committing eternity to each other and then facing the bumps, obstacles, and struggles we experienced in the first few years of marriage (along with the good times). I wouldn't trade those "getting to know you" years for anything because they taught us how to love, forgive, support, and rely on each other. You are my best friend and not in the cliche use of the term. A smile and hug from you means more than from anyone else. You value my role as a mother to your children. You work as hard and as long as you must to support us on your income alone. We might be imperfect individually but put us together and we make an awesome team. I love you and am blessed to know you love me too. I can't wait to see what the next five years has in store for us!
ps- So we're not on the cruise we had hoped as a five year reward but I can honestly say there is nothing disappointing about this milestone anniversary because of the fun we'll have just being together at home. Enjoy the trip down memory lane below.

Year 1: Married EFY Counselors!?!?!?!(2004)

Year 1: Ahhh the country lifestyle of Montana (2004)
Year 1: Vacation to the New England States, aka Bri's mission (2004)

Year 2: Remember feeling like we'd been married for so long since it was after our 1st anniversary? Old pros for sure! (2004)

Year 2: Vegas has lots to see but we didn't find a lot to do.....except eat!(Christmas 2004)

Year 2: Ward Valentines Day dance.....how did I get you to that again?!?!?!? (2005)

Year 2: California vacation time! (summer 2005)

Year 3: What a cute couple we were....and still are! :) (early 2006 I think)
Year 3: A congrats kiss for the BYU graduate. (Spring 2006)

Year 3: Catching the Reds in Pheonix. Our last big get-away before Ryanna came along.(2006)

Year 4: Have the cutest little baby and move to Vernal! I almost forgot how bald Ryanna was!!!!!!!

Year 5: Become competent and mature parents........well we are trying at least!!! You ready for baby #2? Ready or not here he comes! And the Baldwin's embark on their next adventure.

A few pics

One Moment: Mr. Cool Guy with a head full of hair...
The Next: Confused bald man with a freezing head
Cheesing for the camara and "playing football" - Brian has taught her all kinds of cheers and phrases related to football......is this really MY child??Pretty girl wouldn't take her dress off until I forced her to change this afternoon. She just needed it on this morning for a few minutes to take some pics but ended up wearing it all day. So I guess her love of football hasn't taken her away from being a girly girl at the same time.

Static stopped you?

He's a Boy!

The two images below are the money shots showing off his boy parts. Unless you've seen your share of ultrasound images this probably looks like nothing but it is in fact a bum shot with one leg bent where you can see and one leg kicking the ultrasound wand. Brian Jr. didn't appreciate much of this process because he was asleep when we started and very annoyed when the Doc persisted in jabbing him until he would move in a better position. The Doc even put this buzzing thing on my stomach to annoy the kiddo into moving. At first when he was sleeping the Doc told us he thought he was a girl. I was never very bold about it but I just always knew he was a boy and so I wasn't at all surprised when a moment later the Doc corrected himself.

The image below is a profile shot if you can pick it out. The white blob above his face is a hand which was constantly near his mouth......maybe we're gonna have a house full of thumb suckers! We are so excited about our little boy and feel very blessed. Oh and more good news! I am a week farther along than originally estimated - due date April 8th - hooray!

ps - we aren't planning on naming him Brian Jr. but we are interested in your suggestions!

Random pics from the last week

This was at the first house on the trick or treat route which just happened to be at our old apartments. She was distracted by the grass to play in but the rest of the houses she was all about the trick or treating. She even told each house "Happy Halloween...Thank you."

Within 5 seconds of coming home after trick or treating. This girl loves books!
Earlier on Halloween day we went to Kenna's Halloween party. Ryanna had a blast playing in the leaves although she wasn't very nice when the other kids wanted to play with her....sometimes she just wants to play alone lately. Oh and I love this fall outfit on her. These boots are her favorite.

All the kids had a great time painting pumpkins inside. I was really impressed by their finished products!

This is her idea of posing for the camera and of course I think she is so cute.

We went to the Jazz game last weekend with the Bakers and had a blast! Maddi and Ryanna kept each other very entertained and even sat during the entire game.

The girls and their daddy's. Ryanna still says "Gooo Jazzzz!" around the house. Yes, we were on the top row but it turned out great for the girls. We visited temple square and let Ryanna run, dance, and play in the leaves. It was chilly and rainy but it didn't phase Ryanna.

We ordered this chair for Ryanna for Christmas but couldn't wait to give it to her. We ordered it on the Walmart website and learned you get the best quality for a better price - hooray. Ryanna loves daddy time whether that is adventures outside or helping win the football game on the playstation.

Brian forgot to put out his cigarette.

Before (front): After (front):
Before (back):
After (back):

The dead giveaway that this isn't our place is the placement of the back porch. Notice on the burned house the steps are on the left? On ours the steps are on the right. The only difference.

So what to make of this? The story, as told by the nieghbors is that a frantic mother had to drop her children from the burning home onto the porch... with on of the children bouncing off the railing of the porch. If so, that is truly sad, but joyous at the same time because nobody was seriously hurt. Some bumps and bruises and a few burns.

The fire was believed to have started with a loud BANG in the garage and quickly spread up. In the garage before it was boarded up you could see two or three ATVs that were completely destroyed. what a tragedy.

Since this happened just last night, Kristin and I have become nervous and are drafting up our familys escape plans that involve rope ladders and dropping children in well padded laundry baskets... With the final draft still yet to be decided on. :)

Thank goodness no one lost their life. The Elders Quorm is over there helping the neighbors move out. What a great opportunity for the generous neighbors to band together.

Early this morning the firetrucks returned to attend to some hot spots and to put a hole in their roof (a roof that was only 80% finished because our complex is getting new roofs this month!). Check out the picture below from our back porch to view the action from today. And also to show how close this whole things was.

Library Halloween Parade

Cutest Ladybug

Ryanna and Benson are only a week apart and spend a lot of time together. It's funny though because they pretty much ignore each other as you can tell in this picture. They are a cute little pair though.

So here we have Ryanna, Kimball(Batman), McKay (Ironman), and Benson (pumpkin). The kids met outside the library and then paraded through the county building where there were periodic candy stops. They liked that but Ryanna and Benson got sick of seeing the candy go in the bags and not in their mouths...so we had to open some before they were even done.

Ryanna loves wearing things on her head as you'll see below. She always wears that headband like an 80's aerobics instructor - cracks me up.

I bent down to check if she could really see the book and she just barely managed though I'm sure it strained her eyes.

I heard some beeps and clicks while doing the dishes yesterday and found Ryanna having a photoshoot of the living room. She managed to take about 15 pictures of the floor and wall. Maybe she'll go pro someday...who knows.

Look at our little southern bell.

Election anxiety: what I consider important

Everyone has an opinion or multiple opinions about the presidential candidates; who will save the country, who will sink it, and so on. I(Kristin) don't see things nearly so black and white. I dislike both candidates(and parties for that matter) greatly but have come to several conclusions.

1. I will vote for John McCain as the better option for America.
2. The media circus is biased to the left. While this is nothing new it is important to acknowledge in order to filter reality from what you hear and see.
3. The election of Barack Obama will lead to a liberal supermajority. A position that puts American ideals that are most important to me in danger. I believe our nation is built on self endurance and hard work. I do not believe we are entitled to free health insurance or that everyone is entitled to wealth. The Obama campaign's phrase that we should "share the wealth" reminds me of the ideals of European socialism; not the 'work for what you get' attitude of great Americans like my grandparents and yours. I'm frankly horrified by the idea of a government with its hand in every aspect of my life.

Below is the link to an article from the Review and Outlook section of the October 17th, 08 Wall Street Journal. I have many friends who support Senator Obama and I know they are passionate about their position. I respect anyone who takes the time to thoroughly research a situation and take a position in harmony with their beliefs. I am sharing this article because I believe even well informed Obama and McCain supporters do not realize the profound changes that will take place in America as a result of a liberal supermajority. I hope anyone who reads this article will seriously consider what is at risk and decide to vote for John McCain as the better option for America.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB122420205889842989-lMyQjAxMDI4MjE0NzIxMDcyWj.html (I've noticed these links sometimes expire daily so I've pasted the article below)

REVIEW & OUTLOOK OCTOBER 17, 2008 A Liberal Supermajority
Get ready for 'change' we haven't seen since 1965, or 1933.

If the current polls hold, Barack Obama will win the White House on November 4 and Democrats will consolidate their Congressional majorities, probably with a filibuster-proof Senate or very close to it. Without the ability to filibuster, the Senate would become like the House, able to pass whatever the majority wants.

Though we doubt most Americans realize it, this would be one of the most profound political and ideological shifts in U.S. history. Liberals would dominate the entire government in a way they haven't since 1965, or 1933. In other words, the election would mark the restoration of the activist government that fell out of public favor in the 1970s. If the U.S. really is entering a period of unchecked left-wing ascendancy, Americans at least ought to understand what they will be getting, especially with the media cheering it all on.

The nearby table shows the major bills that passed the House this year or last before being stopped by the Senate minority. Keep in mind that the most important power of the filibuster is to shape legislation, not merely to block it. The threat of 41 committed Senators can cause the House to modify its desires even before legislation comes to a vote. Without that restraining power, all of the following have very good chances of becoming law in 2009 or 2010.

- Medicare for all. When HillaryCare cratered in 1994, the Democrats concluded they had overreached, so they carved up the old agenda into smaller incremental steps, such as Schip for children. A strongly Democratic Congress is now likely to lay the final flagstones on the path to government-run health insurance from cradle to grave.

Mr. Obama wants to build a public insurance program, modeled after Medicare and open to everyone of any income. According to the Lewin Group, the gold standard of health policy analysis, the Obama plan would shift between 32 million and 52 million from private coverage to the huge new entitlement. Like Medicare or the Canadian system, this would never be repealed.

The commitments would start slow, so as not to cause immediate alarm. But as U.S. health-care spending flowed into the default government options, taxes would have to rise or services would be rationed, or both. Single payer is the inevitable next step, as Mr. Obama has already said is his ultimate ideal.

- The business climate. "We have some harsh decisions to make," Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned recently, speaking about retribution for the financial panic. Look for a replay of the Pecora hearings of the 1930s, with Henry Waxman, John Conyers and Ed Markey sponsoring ritual hangings to further their agenda to control more of the private economy. The financial industry will get an overhaul in any case, but telecom, biotech and drug makers, among many others, can expect to be investigated and face new, more onerous rules. See the "Issues and Legislation" tab on Mr. Waxman's Web site for a not-so-brief target list.

The danger is that Democrats could cause the economic downturn to last longer than it otherwise will by enacting regulatory overkill like Sarbanes-Oxley. Something more punitive is likely as well, for instance a windfall profits tax on oil, and maybe other industries.

- Union supremacy. One program certain to be given right of way is "card check." Unions have been in decline for decades, now claiming only 7.4% of the private-sector work force, so Big Labor wants to trash the secret-ballot elections that have been in place since the 1930s. The "Employee Free Choice Act" would convert workplaces into union shops merely by gathering signatures from a majority of employees, which means organizers could strongarm those who opposed such a petition.

The bill also imposes a compulsory arbitration regime that results in an automatic two-year union "contract" after 130 days of failed negotiation. The point is to force businesses to recognize a union whether the workers support it or not. This would be the biggest pro-union shift in the balance of labor-management power since the Wagner Act of 1935.

- Taxes. Taxes will rise substantially, the only question being how high. Mr. Obama would raise the top income, dividend and capital-gains rates for "the rich," substantially increasing the cost of new investment in the U.S. More radically, he wants to lift or eliminate the cap on income subject to payroll taxes that fund Medicare and Social Security. This would convert what was meant to be a pension insurance program into an overt income redistribution program. It would also impose a probably unrepealable increase in marginal tax rates, and a permanent shift upward in the federal tax share of GDP.

- The green revolution. A tax-and-regulation scheme in the name of climate change is a top left-wing priority. Cap and trade would hand Congress trillions of dollars in new spending from the auction of carbon credits, which it would use to pick winners and losers in the energy business and across the economy. Huge chunks of GDP and millions of jobs would be at the mercy of Congress and a vast new global-warming bureaucracy. Without the GOP votes to help stage a filibuster, Senators from carbon-intensive states would have less ability to temper coastal liberals who answer to the green elites.

- Free speech and voting rights. A liberal supermajority would move quickly to impose procedural advantages that could cement Democratic rule for years to come. One early effort would be national, election-day voter registration. This is a long-time goal of Acorn and others on the "community organizer" left and would make it far easier to stack the voter rolls. The District of Columbia would also get votes in Congress -- Democratic, naturally.

Felons may also get the right to vote nationwide, while the Fairness Doctrine is likely to be reimposed either by Congress or the Obama FCC. A major goal of the supermajority left would be to shut down talk radio and other voices of political opposition.

- Special-interest potpourri. Look for the watering down of No Child Left Behind testing standards, as a favor to the National Education Association. The tort bar's ship would also come in, including limits on arbitration to settle disputes and watering down the 1995 law limiting strike suits. New causes of legal action would be sprinkled throughout most legislation. The anti-antiterror lobby would be rewarded with the end of Guantanamo and military commissions, which probably means trying terrorists in civilian courts. Google and MoveOn.org would get "net neutrality" rules, subjecting the Internet to intrusive regulation for the first time.

It's always possible that events -- such as a recession -- would temper some of these ambitions. Republicans also feared the worst in 1993 when Democrats ran the entire government, but it didn't turn out that way. On the other hand, Bob Dole then had 43 GOP Senators to support a filibuster, and the entire Democratic Party has since moved sharply to the left. Mr. Obama's agenda is far more liberal than Bill Clinton's was in 1992, and the Southern Democrats who killed Al Gore's BTU tax and modified liberal ambitions are long gone.

In both 1933 and 1965, liberal majorities imposed vast expansions of government that have never been repealed, and the current financial panic may give today's left another pretext to return to those heydays of welfare-state liberalism. Americans voting for "change" should know they may get far more than they ever imagined.

Trick or Treat

Last Halloween Ryanna definitely had no idea what Trick or Treat meant...

This Halloween she'll be a pro! Already practicing her big line.

As a side note that hat was really ticking her off as you'll see....

Drum roll please....

We are expecting baby #2. Kristin is 13 weeks pregnant and the little Brian/Kristin spawn will join us in April. HOORAY!!!!!!!!! We should find out in November the gender. Any bets on boy or girl??????????

Football as a way of life :)

So I've dropped the ball lately on posting new Ryanna stuff but if you saw the last couple posts you could see that our lives have mostly been about football lately. We weren't sure what all coaching would entail but I can honestly say it has been really fun for our family. Brian is of course super busy with not just coaching but his full time job and his radio show but it was only natural that he would be passionate about football and coaching. He's just one of those people who was meant to do it because while some of it is more work than play I think most of the time he is having a blast! We go to the games every week and Ryanna loves running around, watching the players, and clapping and saying "yaaaaa!" when she hears the crowd cheering. It's fun for me too. Most surprising to me is that I like watching the games and watching Brian on the sidelines. I really do! I'm like a mom at a teeball game, "See him in the red hat and khaki shorts? The coach there? That's my husband!" I can't help but be proud of him for all that he does. I picked a good one. :)





We always bring the etch a sketch to the football games for when she needs a break from running around. Here she was writing her name - can't you tell?!?!?
The hill she loves to climb and roll/fall down at the games.
Crazy morning hair. One of the holders broke and I thought it was cute of course.
Last weekend we were invited to a murder mystery dinner party. This is a group of our friends that were in our last ward. Basically all us girls are good friends and our husbands get thrown together for these kind of things but they all get along too. It was hilarious. The couple in the middle were the maid and butler(hosts of the party). The rest of us were potential heirs to a family fortune getting together to discuss who the rightful heir was. We were also all suspect in the murder of the previous heir. The other couples were all supposed to be British royalty of some sort I think while Brian and I were the imposters. Brian was a hunter/geneology enthusiast who fabricated a line of heritage or something. I was his trampy French wife who married him for the money and was trying to poisen anyone who would get in the way of the money. I honestly thought I had killed the guy but it turned out the ex-wife was to blaim. Go figure. Anyway it was a blast and I recommend it to anyone who needs a date night idea.


I love dressing Ryanna up in her Sunday best. She loves nursery and for the first time since she was born I've enjoyed many lessons with my hubby. We are so grateful she loves nursery and we always feel bad for the parents who are coaxing their kids into the room while they scream and cling to their leg. Ryanna on the other hand runs into the room and doesn't look back.

Building block towers takes up about a 1/4 of our day.