the Baldwins of 'dino land'

1.10.2011

Ever just felt like belting out in song?

Ryanna was so excited about Christmas that the entire month of December Ryanna would spontaneously burst into song. This song was her favorite. Enjoy :)

If you want something to eat you just better get it yourself

Quinten apparantly needed a snack because I found him on the table by the fruit bowl and he had eaten about half of an unpeeled mandarin orange. I guess if you want something to eat in this house you just better find it yourself. :)

1.07.2011

Christmas in Mesquite

We enjoyed our time with Lloyd and Barbara and the kids and I were able to see Arlene for a bit before Christmas to exchange presents though we wished we'd had more time with her. I didn't get a decent video of the kids opening the presents from Grandma Baldwin or Grandpa Baldwin and Grandma Barbara. Arlene got the kids some beautiful church books full of art and cute photography. We've been reading them every night before bed. Thank you Arlene!! Lloyd and Barbara got the kids the Dr. Suess books "There's a Wocket in my Pocket" and "Thidwick the Big Hearted Moose" and the accompaning stuffed animals. These two have become household favorites so thank you Lloyd and Barbara!!

We weren't able to see any of my side of the family for Christmas but rather than have them mail any gifts they sent them with our friends from Three Forks who have a home in Mesquite and spend their holidays there. So it was so fun to see the Rochfords for a few minutes in Mesquite while we were vacationing and it was also fun to have Christmas continue for the kids. Ryanna thought Christmas must be every other day when there were more presents to open in Mesquite. Well this video is in Mesquite and we want to say THANK YOU Grandma and Grandpa Scoffield(Mom and Dad)!! Love you guys so much and can't wait to see you soon.

How Ryanna and Quinten spent all Christmas day

Santa brought them Thomas trains and they were in heaven. Hey, whatever makes them happy!

Christmas Morning

I figured Ryanna wouldn't put too much together seeing the wrapped presents in the car on our trip and then having some of them be from Santa. Listen for her explanation for this issue. :)

Pre-Christmas Christmas gift from Daddy to the kids

As I talked to my mom on the phone last night she said she needs a Grandma fix. Since I figured out how to download stuff from my phone onto here I figure I better give her what she needs. :) Enjoy!

I like when she tells Brian "good job daddy!" Brian is thrilled she already loves basketball. :)

1.06.2011

Blog Slacker

Our favorite part and main reason for having a blog is to share lots of pictures, stories, and videos of our kids. Lately, this hasn't been happening mostly because I haven't been keeping the camera on me like I should. I take more pics with my phone though so I included a few of those here. Though my goal is to do more blogging about the kids and what we're up to, today is not really the day I'll be catching up. Instead I just pasted my entry from the Baldwin family newsletter that covers the basics of our last month. This blog slacker will do better!!!

December was a wonderful month. Everything was a magical experience for the kids, especially Ryanna. The snow, lights on houses, Christmas preschool activities, and especially the time reading and talking about the season of giving in our own home made everyday a happy one for her. She was so excited to head to California for Christmas and asked everyday if it was time to leave. She worked extra hard to make special cards for her friends, neighbors, grandparents, and primary teachers. For some of them she practiced drawing the nativity and spent hours and hours drawing the nativity on every scap of paper in our home. She learned to write Merry Christmas on her own and usually without mistake and that too was drawn all over the house. Quinten enjoyed "decorating" the tree which meant pulling off every ornament he could reach and putting them in his truck to drive around. Sometimes he'd even try to hang them back up. He especially enjoyed driving his cars around the Christmas village and nativity. I know I should have put them up higher but they are all cheap and I decided to let the kids enjoy them instead of protect them too much. A few villagers were beheaded but no real harm done and he enjoyed pointing at baby Jesus. December was a BIG BIG month for Brian. He started working part time for the other radio station in town. It has a country music station and conservative talk/sports AM station. We feel very grateful for this part time job and its flexibility with Brian's schedule. The other BIG accomplishment is Brian finished his Masters program. So he now has a Masters in Special Education. He just told me yesterday he missed the deadline to walk in February but I am going to just make him do it the next available time. I feel it is worth recognizing and he refused to walk for his Bachelors so it will be worth doing. As far as myself I've had a few changes this month as well the most noteworthy being a new calling into the primary as chorister. I had been teaching Gospel Principles in Relief Society which I loved and learned so much from but I know I'm supposed to be in Primary at this time. Today was Ryanna's first Sunday as a sunbeam and she did great! I was worried.....really worried. But I think it helped that I was in there too. Quinten has been doing well in nursery though he struggled today since we changed from 1:00 church last Sunday to 9:00am church today. I know that overall this will be a much better time for our family but he is just adjusting. Well, we had a WONDERFUL vacation spending Christmas at Lloyd and Barbara's home and then spending a few days in Mesquite. We were worried how things would go when within the first 5 minutes of our arrival in Menifee Quinten had broke 2 Christmas decorations and knocked over a little table with some Crystal on it(that didn't break thankfully). Fortunately he was so enthralled with his Christmas presents that he didn't cause much damage to their beautiful home. Ryanna felt right at home and remembered Christmas last year. First thing we did is go visit the kitties. She also got to swim with daddy in the hot tub which she's talked about ever since we were there last year. She was so excited to give them the little kitten figurine she had picked out to give them for Christmas and really warmed up to Lloyd this year. She learned quickly that Grandpa knew how to fix her trains and would run to him whenever they had a problem. Barbara of course went above and beyond to fatten us up. I tried to slow her down but I'm not sure anyone has that ability. We enjoyed every minute spent at their home though it went very quick. We arrived Friday afternoon and left for Mesquite early Sunday afternoon. The entire drive to Mesquite the kids played with their stuffed animals from Lloyd and Barbara. Since we've been home we've read the Dr. Suess books that go with them about a dozen times. They love them. In fact, those two books plus the darling LDS books from Grandma Baldwin have been all Ryanna wants me to read, which says a lot. Thank you Grandparents!! Well I'm running out of time but I also have to say we had a great time in Mesquite. The times we can get together and just hang out seem to be the most memorable of all. Ryanna loved every minute with her cousins which we are grateful for.