Easter Sunday, (March 23, 2008)

We colored Easter eggs as a family about a week before Easter. The kids were intrigued with all the colors. The kids plastered the eggs with "Shrek" themed stickers. Ryder was only familiar with the plastic eggs that open and spill out candy when you throw them on the floor so he kept throwing the hard boiled eggs on the floor hoping that they would explode with candy. Much to his dismay, these were very boring eggs and there was no candy inside. All the colors and stickers were just a show.

Easter morning, Ryder and Sawyer were up pretty early to check out what the Easter Bunny brought them. When they saw their baskets, they came running. It was great to see the excitement in their little faces. Along with the candy, Sawyer got a Polly Pocket car and Ryder got "Shrek" and "Donkey" action figures. To their surprise, all the eggs that they had colored the week before were missing. Sawyer quickly figured out that they were hidden throughout the house. Sawyer found most of the eggs, but she was nice enough to let Ryder find some too and to toss some of the ones she found into his basket. Easter is pretty new to Ryder, but he's beginning to understand the deal.


Ryder in his new easter suit.


Ryder felt like such a big kid in his suit.


Sawyer in her new Easter dress.


Our little girl is growing up way too fast.

Valley Worlds of Fun, Fairmont, WV (February 18, 2008)

Eliza's sister Amy Baranek and her 2 kids, Riley and Garrett, flew in from Mesa, Arizona to visit the family in Bridgeport, WV. Eliza and Emily, Eliza's sister that is living with us for a few months, took Sawyer, Ryder, Savannah, and Maddox down to Eliza's parents house for about a week, leaving Cody home to fend for himself. Ryder and the girls had a good time with grandma and grandpa Haws and all of their many cousins. Eliza's sister Ellen Ortega drove in from Washington D.C. with her 3 boys, Mikkito, Matthew, and Jayden. Eliza's other sister Christina Stout also made the trip up from Charleston, WV with her 2 kids, Kaitlyn and Andrew. Eliza's brother David made the trip up from Virginia as well (he is going to college at Southern Virginia University).

The highlight of the trip was Valley Worlds of Fun, a small children's theme park in Fairmont, WV. The kids were able to ride some small roller coasters, play laser tag, and go bowling. Ryder and Sawyer felt brave as they would throw their hands up in the air on the roller coasters and scream. Since Eliza is pregnant, she couldn't ride with the kids, so they were lucky enough to have uncle David and grandma and grandpa Haws to ride with them. Sawyer didn't like the laser tag; we think she was scared. A special thanks goes out to grandma and grandpa Haws for getting everyone together.


Sawyer riding the roller coaster with her grandpa Haws.

Tired of Winter (February, 2008)

Christmas with Grandma Toni and Grandpa Scott, Sandy, UT (December, 2007)

Ryder is just a little too big for the crib Loni used for her dolls growing up.

Ryder loved being outside in the snow with everybody.

Grandma Toni, Sawyer, Eliza, Loni, Whitney, and Mandy posing after taking a few runs on Ronnie's tubing hill.

Ryder claimed this snowman as his.

Sawyer and Cody building a family of snowmen.

"You can't find me Gilbert!"

Sawyer and Ryder wrestling in the snow.

Sawyer and Ryder love spending time with grandma Toni. Our happy family of snowmen only lasted about 8 hours since a huge windstorm blew in the night after we made them.

Eliza and Ryder dancing in the kitchen.

Loni and Ian Spencer with Beau.

The sweet sounds of music???

Now those are happy kids!

Ryder wanted to be like his mommy and play Rock Band. Eliza became addicted to this game on Playstation 3.

We were able to spend 10 days in Utah after Christmas and into New Year's. It was great to be able to spend so much time with family and friends. Eliza and Cody were grateful to grandma Toni for watching the kids while they got to go out alone a few times. They went to see "I am Legend" together on one occasion and were able to do a session in the Jordan River Temple on another. It had been a long time since they had been to the Temple and it was great to get back. It was awesome to reunite with so many of our good friends. We were able to see Kyle and Whitney's new house, Kippy's new house, go to "National Treasure - Book of Secrets", go skiing a couple times, play a lot of "Rock Band", cover-up (a new card game we learned), and to experience Ronnie's tubing hill.

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Haws, Bridgeport WV (December, 2007)

Sawyer was "the Angel Gabriella" (Gabriel) in the live nativity.

Ryder was a shepherd and wanted to keep the towell on his head all night.

Family picture after the live nativity.

Uncle David gave Sawyer and Savannah matching Las Vegas shirts.

From left to right...Jayden (shepherd), Matthew (Joseph), and Savannah (Mary).

Aren't our kids lucky? They get to celebrate Christmas for close to a month and in 3 different states (PA, WV, and UT). Sawyer and Ryder always love to go to grandma and grandpa Haws' home since there are so many cousins, uncles, and aunts that give them attention. Because there are so many people and so much commotion it's pretty much a free-for-all and they can pretty much get away with anything.

This year Eliza decided she was going to do something special for her parents and give them a gift that would surprise them. She knew that her Dad (Kim) has a passion and skill for woodworking and has made custom picture frames for all 10 kids in the family in years past, and because Kim is always thinking of others, he has never taken time to make one for his own family. She also knew that there is nothing in the world more important than family to her Mom (Toni) .

With this in mind, she came up with a design for a big picture frame and decided she would spend some quality time in the wood shop with Kim to be able to enjoy and participate in his hobby with him. Eliza, like Kim, also loves working with wood and doing crafts (as long as it involves the use of power tools). She made a few trips down to West Virginia in the month of December to work with Kim on the frame and they were able to bond and make memories that neither one will forget.

Eliza convinced her family that the picture frame was being made to house a picture of Cody and Eliza and was going to be given as a gift to Cody for Christmas and that everybody needed to keep this secret from Cody. On Christmas Eve, Eliza shocked everyone when instead of giving the picture and frame to Cody, she sat it on Kim's lap to open. Sparks flew, emotions ran high, and Eliza was happy that she was able to give Toni the picture and frame her home was missing (a large picture of the entire Haws family including in-laws and grandkids) and bring some joy to their lives during the holiday season. She was also very grateful that she was able to spend so much quality time with Kim and see him in his element.

Christmas at Home, Canonsburg, PA (December, 2007)

When Ryder came downstairs and saw the Dora house, he got so excited. He kept stomping his feet really fast and running into and out of the tent. It was hard to get him to come and start opening his other presents. He had so much emotion and excitement in his little body that he couldn't sit still at all. It was fun for Eliza and I to witness such excitement...it made our Christmas.

"Mo Pwesents!" Sawyer was so excited to see so many presents waiting for her under the tree. As she opened them, she had to decide whether to open up the toys and play with them or to set them aside and find out what else was waiting for her inside the wrapping paper. Obviously, she couldn't wait to see what else she was getting, so that anticipation won out, but It was fun to see her struggle with this decision when she opened up some of her favorites (Barbie Island Princess, and the princess Polly Pockets).

New costumes! Sawyer as princess Jasmine and Ryder as a knight. We made sure that we got a few "boy costumes" as Ryder was getting a little too excited about wearing Sawyer's princess dresses, wigs, and shoes when they played dress-up. He can now dress up as a policeman, a pirate, or a knight instead of having to be Cindarella or Snow White.

It didn't take Ryder long to realize that as soon as he ripped through the annoying wrapping paper, a fun prize was waiting for him inside. After each present he opened he would hold it in the package for a few seconds, then bring it to me and say "Open...Play". It was fun to see him enjoy each and every gift. In a year or two he'll understand a little more and want to get to the other presents before he opens any of them to play with.

Halloween (October, 2007)

Whipperman Family Vacation, Lake Powell, UT (October, 2007)

Sawyer and Granny To-To

Eliza and Mandy getting ready to Sea Doo

Kippy and Sawyer soaping up.

MWAH!!

Ryder in his new lifejacket.

Eliza, taking a dip off the back of the houseboat.

Sawyer, chillin' in the back of the boat.

Scott, captain of "The Whip Ship".

Ryder's black eye from the Sea Doo.

Eliza, just being beautiful.

Enjoying some lunch on the back of "The Whip Ship".

Ryder driving the Sea Doo.

Courtesy of Randy Mellor (Kip's boss, and a friend of the family), we were able to enjoy Lake Powell aborard a luxurious, 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom houseboat which was docked at the Bullfrog marina. Ronnie, Lisa, and Patrick Romero; Mandy, Shawn, and Anna Moyes; Ian and Loni Spencer; Toni, Scott, Kip, and Whitney Whipperman joined us in this adventure. Kyle was in Oklahoma City finishing up his training to be an air-traffic controller at the Salt Lake City airport.

We had a great time wakeboarding, waterskiing, wakesurfing, riding Sea Doos, cliff jumping, exploring canyons, and just being on the water. Ryder loved the Sea Doos so much; he didn't want to let go of the handles and we pretty much had to peel him away when it was time to get off. Sawyer had her first waterskiing experience on this trip. She was so brave and stood on the front of Cody's skis while they both held the rope. It took just about all of her courage to try it, but she was very proud of herself after it was over. Eliza loved wakeboarding behind the Sea Doo because the wake wasn't as big as behind the boat. She also tried her hand at cliff jumping. It took her a while to finally get up the courage, but she jumped about 25 feet. Cody got his adrenaline fix by cliff diving about 40 feet and then cliff jumping about 65 feet; the family gave him a hard time about it, as they always do.

The kids loved getting up every morning and feeding Trix and Lucky Charms to the carp and ducks off the back of the houseboat. Ryder wasn't sure if he liked it when Daddy stuck his toes in the water so the carp could suck on them, but he didn't seem to be too bothered by it. Ryder even went off the big slide from the top of the houseboat while sitting on Daddy's lap.

Pittsburgh Zoo (September, 2007)

Sawyer and Savannah having lunch in "the beast".

Heath, David, and Eliza taking a break from the stroller pushing.

Checking out the grizzly bear.

Emily (Eliza's sister), J.R., Savannah, and Maddox Pudder and Heath and David Haws (Eliza's younger brothers) joined us for a Saturday at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Eliza's youngest brother, Heath, was temporarily sent home from his mission in Atlanta, Georgia to recover from mononucleosis. The kids enjoyed being together and seeing the animals.