Happy Birthday, Connor!

Where did our little baby go?

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Connor Glen Wood, born March 14, 2012; 7lbs 13oz, 21 inches.


We blinked and suddenly he's turned into this adorable toddler:
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*MANIACAL LAUGH*


Happy 2nd Birthday, Connor! Thank you for all the joy you bring to our family! We love you!!!

P.S. Special thank you to Auntie LoLo for the taking the awesome pictures!

Happy Birthday, Carter!

Four years ago today this little cutie was born:

Bliss


It's hard to believe it's already been four years, but we've loved every minute of it! Carter is becoming such a big boy. Our little baby has grown up so fast! He's gone from being an adorable little baby to this handsome guy:

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Happy Birthday, Carter! We love you!

P.S. Special thanks to his Auntie LoLo for the awesome photo shoot. :)

Annual Newsletter

Dear Family and Friends,


This has been another very exciting and busy year for our family!

Connor will be two in March and has become an expert climber. He’s very active and enjoys playing with other kids at daycare. His vocabulary is increasing constantly; some of his favorite words/phrases are “mama,” “daddy,” “CaCa” (Carter,) and “oh man.”

Carter will be four years old in February and is a great a big brother. He’s full of energy and loves playing outside. He attends the pre-K class at the daycare where Connor goes, and enjoys learning how to write the alphabet and numbers, learning sign language and playing with the “big kids.”

Ryan is still working as a Model Designer for Legoland and has been very busy designing models for Legolands Florida and Malaysia. He was also able to go on a research trip to Atlanta and has designed and built models for a Legoland Discovery Center opening there in the spring. Ryan still enjoys building in his free time, and had a great time at Seattle’s Brickcon in October. He was recently called to be the 2nd Counselor in the Elder’s Quorum at church and enjoys it.

Katie left the law office in Los Angeles in June and began working full time as a paralegal for a business litigation attorney in Del Mar. She was sad to leave the office she had been working at for five years, but she really enjoys her new office and the commute is much better. She and Ryan were released from their calling in the nursery, but Katie still teaches in Relief Society once a month.

We added a new member to the family in July. After five years of mostly faithful service, Ryan’s first car gave up the ghost and we made the plunge into new car ownership with a 2011 Toyota Sienna that has already proven useful for vacations and hauling stuff around.

Ryan and Katie were able to go on another cruise to Mexico in May and had a great time, even though the weather didn’t cooperate. The whole family is looking forward to spending the week between Christmas and New Year’s in Orlando with Katie’s family to celebrate her dad’s 60th birthday.

We hope you enjoy this Christmas season as we remember the birth of our Savior. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


Love,
Ryan, Katie, Carter and Connor Wood

Welcome to the Family!

We're the proud new owners of this beauty:

2011 Toyota Sienna

Beep beep

Yay
Looks like everyone is happy with the new addition

After finding out that our 2004 Hyundai Accent would need over $3,000 in repairs, including a new transmission, we decided to go ahead and spend that money (and more) on a new minivan. We test drove a few models, did a lot of research, and decided on the 2011 Toyota Sienna. The whole negotiating process was somewhat stressful, but as soon as we headed out the door (without purchasing the van) things really turned around and we ended up with a great deal. We're looking forward to MANY years with the new member of our family!

Ryan's (Late) Birthday

Ryan turned 27 on Friday, May 13th. We were leaving for our cruise the following Monday, so we decided not to do a party or anything. I still wanted to do something special for his birthday and worked with one of his co-workers to arrange for the boys and I to surprise him by bringing a birthday cake to the office.

Surprised!
Surprise! Ryan and a group of co-workers were out playing hackey sack on their break and thanks to Jolene I was able to sneak in the back with the boys and the cake. Needless to say, Ryan was very surprised to see us and a birthday cake waiting at his desk.

Noms
The cake.

Makin a wish
Making a wish.

Jojo and Coco
Connor and Jolene enjoying the cake.

Ladeez
Co-workers enjoying the cake.

After Ryan got home from work, the boys and I gave him his presents. A couple of co-workers offered to babysit the kids as a birthday gift, so we got to go out on a romantic date to see Thor.

Presents
Opening his presents. The boys gave him a bag of his own Lego with money inside for him to spend on new Lego, and I gave him more money for Lego and this shirt that he's been wanting forever.

Star Wars Miniland

We took the boys to see the new Star Wars Miniland at Legoland earlier this month. I think Carter maybe loved it more than his daddy, which I never would have thought possible. I'm sure it helped that there were buttons to push because that's Carter's favorite part of all Miniland. Here are some pictures of our fun day:


Meeting Darth Vader
Family picture with Darth Vader


Apology Accepted
Darth Vader

Star Wars @ Legoland California
The boys in front of the Lego Star Wars sand sculptures (no, they aren't made out of Lego)

Hoth
Kashyyyk
Carter finding buttons

Geonosis
Geonosis

Endor
Endor

Naboo
Naboo

Tatooine
Tatooine

Kashyyyk
Kashyyyk

Hothsome!
Ryan approves

Connor's Party

As promised, here are pictures from Connor's birthday party (yes, I'm actually posting about it within 4 DAYS!):


Eating his birthday lunch


Friends eating birthday lunch


Friends and family eating birthday lunch


Carter eating birthday lunch


Connor with his grandparents (minus Grandpa Wood...we wish you could have been there!)


Carter "helping" Connor open his bunny from Great Papa.


Awesome clothes from Grandma and Grandpa Wood


Eating his Elmo card from Mommy and Daddy


Such a cute birthday boy!


Connor with his new car seat from Grandma and Grandpa Bradley


BIG thank you to Andy for keeping Carter entertained!

Elmo Cake
Close up of the cake

Make a wish!
Connor drooling over the cake as we sing happy birthday to him.


Trying to figure out what we gave him


Digging in


Big bite


Sharing

Chesty
Playing with the cake

Mess
All done!


Connor and his future bride, Leia :)


Thank you to everyone who was able to come celebrate with us!