Our 5-year Anniversary (April 25, 2008)

5 years ago today, we were married for time and all eternity in the Washington D.C. Temple. We were talking about it this week and we both came to the conclusion that it has not been a short 5 years. We've heard people say that the years just flew by, but we really aren't in that camp. We must acknowledge that there have been a lot of challenges, opportunities for growth, and struggles along the way. There have been wonderful times, happy times, sad times, and downright miserable times in our marriage. We are confident that the Lord will continue to bless our lives as we live up to the committments that we've made to each other and to him. Through it all, we are more in love with each other now than we were the day we met, and we are much more committed to one another. Below are some of our favorite pictures of the Washington D.C. Temple. For us, these pictures stand as a representation of the dedication and committment we have to the Lord, our marriage, our children, and our families. They are also a symbol of our hope and the glory that eternal marriage will bring to our family.







For our 5th anniversary we decided to go somewhere we've been wanting to go for a while...The Melting Pot. Everyone we've talked to raves about this place and we thought it would be fun to do something new. Since Sawyer's birthday party was the next day, grandma Haws and Eliza's sister, Christina, were visiting. They were kind enough to offer to watch the kids while we had a night out. We sincerely appreciate them for this wonderful gift. If anyone hasn't been to The Melting Pot, we highly recommend it. It's a 4-course meal including a cheese fondue appetizer, a salad, the main course, and chocolate fondue for dessert.

The menu and empty pot waiting at our table.

For our appetizer, we ordered the Fiesta Cheese Fondue, which is made with Mexican herbs, spices, jalepeño peppers, and salsa. They bring out fresh veggies, tortilla chips, granny smith apples, and fresh bread to dip in the cheese. We were surprised that the apples dipped in spicy cheese were amazing (by far our favorite part of the appetizer).

Bowls of veggies and other things to dip in the cheese fondue.

The big pot of cheese where you dip the appetizers.

Cody got the House Salad and Eliza ordered the Tropical Salad with tomatos, mangos, palm hearts, and coconut crusted cashews. That's pretty much all we have to say about the salad.

For the main course, they bring you a plate of all varieties of raw meat (lobster tail, filet minon, sirloin steak, chicken, pork tenderloin, and shrimp) along with squash ravioli and fresh vegetables. You choose the type of broth you want to cook it in and cook each piece separately with the skewers they provide. There are about a dozen different dipping sauces for the meat, so you get to try a bunch of different flavors. Neither of us are big seafood fans, but it was nice to try out some things we normally wouldn't order.

For dessert, you choose the kind of chocolate fondue that you want (we chose milk chocolate, caramel and chopped pecans), they fill the pot with it, and they bring you a plate of dippers (strawberries, bananas, rice-krispie treats, marshmallows, brownies, cheesecake, and pound cake) to enjoy with the chocolate. This is by far the best part of the meal. It's hard to pick a favorite dipper because all of them are so tasty.

The plate of "treats" they bring you to dip in the chocolate fondue. Did we sell you on going to The Melting Pot yet?

Sawyer's Fourth Birthday Party (April 24, 2008)

Congratulations to Sawyer!!! She is now 4 years old. As her parents, we are so proud of her (excuse us for a minute while we brag about our daughter). She is a bright, happy little girl and she brings so much peace and joy to our lives. We have had Eliza's sister, Emily, and her two kids, Savannah and Maddox, staying with us for the past few months. We are extremely proud of Sawyer because she has learned how to share pretty much everything she has with her cousins. Sawyer has a brilliant little mind and loves learning new things. This year she learned how to recognize and write all of the letters in the alphabet. It came so natural to her. She loves coloring and for a 4 year-old she is a little perfectionist. She stays inside the lines and her teachers at pre-school say she colors better than anyone in the class. This year she also learned the first 8 Articles of Faith by memory (yes, it took a little bit of bribery). She also knows all the books in the New Testament, all 16 latter-day prophets from Joseph Smith to Thomas S. Monson, the names of the 12 ancient Apostles, and she is currently learning the 50 States (she knows about half of them by memory). She is a huge tease (Savannah and Ryder can attest to that). She loves riding her bike, playing "Old Maid" and the memory match game, playing dress-up, doing puzzles, and being outside. She is a social butterfly as long as we are somewhere where she is comfortable (it took her a couple months to come out of her shell at pre-school). As her parents, we couldn't be prouder of our daughter. We love you Sawyer! Happy Birthday!

After having taken the kids to "Enchanted" in the theatre twice, Sawyer told us that she wanted a "Giselle" themed birthday party. Here are some of the pictures from the party:


Sawyer's cousin Kaitlyn enjoyed the fruit kabobs, cheese and crackers, pink lemonade, miniature shaped sandwiches, and veggies and dip at the princess tea party.


This is where the girls had the princess tea party.


The "Enchanted" themed cake and presents table.


Cody's opinion is that this party was as much fun (or more) for Eliza as it was for Sawyer. Eliza created and printed off menus and nametags from the computer and was able to find "Giselle" place settings to match everything else. She even broke out the "china" that we never use (at least the 4 year-olds got some use out of it). She was pretty much consumed with this party for a couple weeks, but she had a smile on her face the entire time.


Sawyer posing in front of her "Enchanted" cake.


Kayla Calvert, Emma Stephens, Savannah Pudder (cousin), Sawyer, Gabriella, Madeline North, and Kaitlyn Stout (cousin) all get ready to break the "Enchanted" piñata.


Sawyer giving the "Giselle" piñata her worst.


Sawyer opening presents with Madeline North, Ryder, and Kayla Calvert.


Sawyer enjoying her princess tea party.


Sawyer's cousin Savannah was all smiles at the tea party.

Day Trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo (April 17, 2008)

Sawyer and her cousin Savannah holding hands down the big slide.


Ryder's checking out the fish in the aquarium.


Eliza and Ryder at the elephant exhibit.


Ryder pointing out the sea lions.


Emma Stephens, Savannah Pudder, Sawyer, and Ryder all join hands to go down the big slide.

Ryder's 2nd Birthday (April 2, 2008)

Congratulations to Ryder!!! He is now 2 years old. As his parents, we are very proud of him (please excuse us for a minute while we brag about our little guy). Ryder is a sweet, cuddly, happy little boy. He brings so much happiness and love into our home. For the past few months, Eliza's sister, Emily, and her kids have been staying with us. We are so proud of Ryder because he has learned how to share his sister, Sawyer, with his cousin, Savannah. Ryder adores Sawyer and pretty much wants to do everything that she does (but we no longer allow him to try on Sawyer's princess dresses). He follows Sawyer around and repeats almost everything she says. Ryder loves being with his family. When Cody comes home from work, Ryder is the first one to scream "Daddy's home" and come running to the door with his arms outstretched. It is the highlight of Cody's day. Most mornings Ryder is the first one up (usually before 6 am) and he loves watching his early morning cartoons. Cody is oftentimes late for work because Ryder, with puppy-dog eyes, begs Cody to let him join Cody in the shower (how do you resist that?). This year Ryder has been learning his ABC's and almost has them down. He has learned to say prayers (with help), and reminds us that we need to read scriptures before bed almost every night (he's probably just stalling his bedtime, but it's a good example to us nonetheless). Ryder loves being outside, likes getting his hands dirty, and loves it when we have people over to visit. It is so cute when he shakes hands with them and says "Nice to meet you." Ryder is so excited for the new baby to arrive. He kisses Eliza's belly daily and talks to the baby. We love you Ryder! Happy Birthday!

We don't really know how or why Ryder likes Spiderman (he has never seen any movies or books about Spiderman), but he is into Spiderman. Here are some pictures of his "Spiderman" themed birthday party:


Ryder's spiderman cake that Eliza made.


Can you see the excitement on his face as he is about to open up his first present?

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.