Cereal boxes?!?!?

Want to help a few Haitians?

(bet you don't hear that every day)

Instead of throwing your cereal boxes away- bring them to me!

I will be taking my cereal boxes to Laynes next Tuesday after work to help out a local family serving in Haiti right now.

Read more about it here.

And then bring me your boxes!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

This Thanksgiving was a little bit different than previous Thanksgivings.  I had to hang around College Station for work, so my family decided to come to us. We had a wonderful weekend, with most of them arriving on Friday afternoon.  We relaxed, cooked, played, shopped, laughed, threw a balloon into the fan over and over again {thanks, Uncle Zach, for teaching Bryson this exciting new game...}  :), and really enjoyed each other's company. We took some time to really examine the many blessings in our lives, and I was definitely overwhelmed with it all. We have been so blessed and can see God's goodness all around us. I am so thankful for a season that makes me slow down and really examine what this life is all about.

Here are a few pictures from our time together this Thanksgiving weekend:

I made a lemon pie (using my Nanny's recipe). Bryson somehow managed to find the lemon rinds and was sucking out the remainder of the juice! Crazy kid!

He was climbing on a box {that he was NOT supposed to be climbing on!}. I told him to get down, and when he turned around, this is what we saw...

Amy cooking...

 My mom and dad just got back from a trip to Washington, D.C.  They found these hats for us. Gotta love souvenirs!

Found my shoes!

Visiting...

Bryson's second Thanksgiving dinner!

 We decided that we want Bryson to understand the true meaning of the holiday season. I read a blog called Joy's Hope, and stumbled across this idea one day.  I loved it and knew that I wanted to start this tradition in my own family. So, I sent out an email with a sign up sheet for anyone that wanted to participate. My family is AMAZING! Not only did they all want to participate, but they brought so many items I was afraid it wouldn't all fit in one bag. We ended up with over 30 bags to take to the Mission (a local homeless shelter), and Matt, Shannon, Zach, and Amy each took a few for their cars. Blessed to Bless bags. This will be a tradition in the Ruple household for many years to come.

"You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God."

2 Corinthians 9:11

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What an amazing holiday! On Sunday afternoon we put up our Christmas tree {pictures to come}. Bryson is loving it and just goes around saying "tree" all day and pointing to it. I am focusing on slowing down and enjoying these sweet moments with my {not for long!} toddler. We are blessed beyond blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

One Of My Favorites!

A few weekends ago my college roommate and her fiance came to see us.  Ambree and I have basically been BFFs since that fateful day in Mosier Hall in 2001 (I am suddenly feeling very old!).  We only get to see eachother a few times a year now, but we always pick up right where we left off. She called a few weeks ago and said that she is getting married! She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and now I get to return the favor. I am honored and so excited to be a part of her special day.

This was our first time to meet Kent. He seems like a great guy and passed all of my "tests" with flying colors. They have such an amazing future ahead of them. We just wished they lived a little bit closer so that we could be a bigger part of it. For now, we are looking forward to a Fall 2011 wedding. Can't wait!

~The Happy Couple~

 ~Sweet Friends~

Improvising

To say that Bryson is an active child is definitely an understatement. He is on the move from the time he wakes up (which is usually in the 5am hour) until the time he hits the sack. With Winter quickly approaching, we decided that we needed to create a play space for Bryson that is inside- at least sort of. We put foam floor mats in our garage and then moved his play house from the yard into the garage. Genius! He loves playing out there. The other night he spent an hour climbing up, sliding down, climbing up, sliding down-------- over and over again! He slides on one slide, then the other slide. He slides sitting on his bottom and then turns around and slides feet first on his belly!

 He looks way too old in this picture! {sob, sob}

Next up: filling our sandbox with corn and moving it into the garage. I think this just might be our life-saver this winter!

Of Course!

The other night I was running late, turning my entire house upside down trying to find my keys. I finally gave up, locating my spare set and running through the garage to my car.  Fortunately I just happened to glance into Bryson's car on my way out, and what did I see???

This---------------->

 Look closer------------->

 Of course they would be in the ignition of Bryson's car! Why didn't I think to look there in the first place???  :)

Our lives get more and more interesting every day...

Trampoline Time

Erin snapped this shot of Bryson last week on her trampoline. Thought it was so cute! Is he having a good time, or what?!?!?

Randomness

We had a wonderful weekend- pretty much just hung out close to home, cleaned {which my house REALLY needed}, went to Eden's first birthday party on Saturday {HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDEN!}, went to church, and spent lots of time together as a family.  Just the weekend I needed. :)

Randomness from the weekend:

Bryson LOVES his basketball right now.  So much so that he wants to take it everywhere with him- even in his car. They don't fit in there too well together- but he works it out.

 Pickiest eater on earth = worried mom.  Enter Juice Plus.  Happy Mom.  No more constipated baby, and I know he is getting all of the nutrients he needs.  You can read more about it here.

 Cutest. Party Favor. Ever! Leslie did a great job with these and I just wanted to share...

In other randomness, I joined the land of Facebook today. What is going on here!?!? I have boycotted it for so long, but finally got on board. We will see!

Have a wonderful week!

Pity Party

Today was one "those" days.  This week was one of "those" weeks. Ever have one of those? 

I'm facing some crazy circumstances and am pretty much disappointed in more people than I care to discuss.

I pronounced my first death this week. You read that correctly. I didn't get home until 8pm that night. What an experience. Definitely one I will never forget.  Definitely one that will mould me as a nurse and a person. 

On another note, I did get to enjoy some girl time at La Bodega last night. Splurged on a margarita and a strawberry tart. Fixed most things about the week. :)

Just wanted to share these thoughts. Just wanted to send them somewhere so I can stop thinking about them and move on.

Definitely remembering that God is the only one who does not disappoint. After all, we are only human.

Resting in this tonight...

Trick or Treat!

The Kenleys hosted our annual Halloween get together.  We had a great time hanging out in their beautiful backyard with them, the MacDonalds, the Rowses, and the Hindes'.  The kids played, we ate, and everyone enjoyed the company.

Sweet new friends Abby and Maddie- they were hand in hand all evening...

Jared and Annabel

Little Pumpkin Reagan

Sam the Cowboy and Cooper the UPS Man

Daniel and baby Kyleigh

Cowgirl Mia

New friends checking each other out...

Bryson with his stringer of {weird looking} fish (they didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped! :)

Walking up to his first stop on our trick-or-treat trail...

Some of our gang visiting Mrs. Andrea.

Bryson had a great time. He surprised us with how well he did. He liked the candy, but really loved just visiting with the people. We had to stop him a few times from walking into peoples' homes! And the people with dogs- they were a definite hit. So much fun!

So excited!

Two princesses celebrating in style!

Sweet Mia running back after getting her candy...

Jason visiting with a neighbor...

The Fisherman

Stacey and Mia

Kristin and Annabel

The Three Amigos

The Hindes Family

Bryson enjoyed going up to the doors for a while, then decided that he had had enough. He started sitting down at the end of every driveway and dumping all of his candy out. Crazy boy!

After trick-or-treating we headed back to the Kenley's for MORE SUGAR!

Jenny made these cute spider cookies,

and I made a few treats too.

Can you say "sugar high"?!?!?!

Bryson loving on Sam...

After a great but exhausting evening we finally gathered up all of our stuff and made the long trek (around the block) home. Bryson was wound up, but took a bath and crashed into bed. He slept so well last night that we had to wake him up this morning! His usual wake-up time is in the 5am hour, so this was a special treat for Jason and me.
Bryson's Halloween PJs from Grandma

What a great Halloween! I don't think it could have been much better. We are so thankful for good friends and the fun we are having watching our sweet boy grow up!

Happy Halloween!

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Bryson

Halloween 2009

 Only made it half way around the block before conking out. :)

Sweet times...