Reflecting on 2009

Happy Holidays to our family and friends! It feels like I just finished last years letter, and yet a year has already come and gone! As we think back over the last year, blessed is the word that keeps coming to mind.
Payton turned ONE at the beginning of March. She is such a FUN little girl. She is so snuggly, happy, easy-going (for the most part), and a great sleeper. She is pretty sensitive (I don’t know where she got THAT from) and listens really well. When she’s not “talking,” eating, or laughing, she is generally seen with her two fingers in her mouth and holding onto her favorite blanket. She LOVES her big brother, loves to dance, and loves to take care of her babies! She brings such a sweet presence to our family.
Our summer was filled with adventure, family time, and fun. We headed to Texas at the end of May and enjoyed some much needed time with Maggie and Peepaw at the Lakehouse. Preston wanted nothing more than to fish all day and night and go for the occasional jet ski or boat ride. We were also able to take Preston to Uncle Gene’s “farm” for the night where he held baby goats, chased chickens, looked at cows, and did more fishing. Preston was in his element and has talked about Uncle Gene’s farm many times!
At the end of our trip to Texas, we made a six day stop off in California and went to Disneyland! Maggie and Peepaw met us there for a few days and Jen’s sister-in-law and kids were able to join us for a day. Disneyland was SO MUCH FUN! It was definitely a highlight of our year. Preston and Payton were fearless and enjoyed every part of our trip from the rides, the characters, the food, the shows, the cousin time, the “extras” bought for them, and the special time with Maggie and Peepaw! It was a trip for the memory books for sure!
This summer also brought about lots of camping and fishing with family and friends, along with a lot of hard work! Darron worked incredibly hard to redo our backyard. He built fences, cut down trees, moved sheds, made decks, and turned dirt into beautiful grass! We now have a beautiful, relaxing backyard with a hot tub, hammock, fire pit, and play fort. We spent many nights out back as a family and loved every minute of it (minus the mosquitoes)!
As Fall came, the start of another school year began for Jen who is still teaching part-time in a 5th grade classroom. Preston and Payton are still enjoying time with cousins and even Grandma one day a week! Darron took the plunge to complete his Master’s degree in October. We are very proud of him!
Preston is turning FOUR years old at the end of this month. I can’t believe he is already so big! He is still my sweet little boy (although I was wondering who snatched his sweetness for about a four month period!) and we have so much fun with him. He is very smart and verbal, and headstrong and “right”! He LOVES Payton and time with his cousin (might as well be brother) Max. Preston played soccer for the first time this summer and really enjoyed it. He wants to play again. He loves Sunday School class and is looking forward to starting Preschool next year. He’s still a momma’s boy, but he only snuggles when he wants too. He adds great joy, laughter, and happiness to our family!
To add to our joy and blessings this year, we just found out not long ago that Baby Number Three is on the way and due at the end of June!J
As another year ends, we are so thankful for so many things: a beautiful house, two great jobs, supportive and loving families, an incredible network of close friends near and far, an awesome church home and family that we love being involved in, health, and most importantly, our God. We hope this letter finds each of you happy and healthy and finding peace in the one that matters most! Take time to remember “the reason for the season” and let us know how you are doing! Check out our family blog when you have time at www.rizerfamily.blogspot.com and Happy Holidays!

We love you all,
Darron, Jenny, Preston, and Payton

9 Great Years Together

Nine years ago I snatched the best man possible to be my husband! And I'm so glad he chose me to spend this earthly life with! I knew I was a lucky woman then, but I had no idea how lucky I truely was. In honor of our nine years together (well, actually 11 together, but 9 married), here are nine things I LOVE about my husband:

(in no particular order)

1) I married a man that was always cute, but now he is sexy! He just gets better and better looking with age! That's the kind of man you want to marry! :)

2) He is an incredibly loving, caring, fun, capable father to our children. He leads by example, disciplines with love, is able to take care of them without much instruction :), and does fun things with them.

3) He is a man of God. He leads our family to know the Lord and tries to constantly better himself.

4) He is very outgoing. He is willing to meet new people and make them feel welcome.

5) He is a leader. He has stepped into some leadership positions at church and is amazing. People can't help but follow him.

6) He has a magnetic personality that attracts people. I haven't ever met anyone that doesn't just love my husband. He is open, friendly, hilarious, and makes people feel at ease.

7) He loves me. He daily makes me feel beautiful, hugs me, listens to me, and goes out of his way to take care of things that may be stressing me out (I know, hard to believe that things would stress me out)!

8) He is a family man. He loves to be with our family. He also loves his parents and sisters and it shows. Family is a top priority for him and I love that!

9) He can build and/or fix just about anything. He amazes me with his skills and know how, even when he's never done it before. It reminds me of my dad and that's pretty cool! I'm so proud of all the things he's built and fixed (like a room on our house, a family cabin, new floors, a bookcase for my school, and the list could go on and on).

I could easily name more than nine things that I love about my husband. Yes, we've had our rough years and rough days, but I have never had to question his love for me. I feel like the most loved woman because of his actions and words on a daily basis. I feel so blessed to call myself his wife and the mother of his children. We have been blessed with a beautiful family and I am so thankful he's my partner in life. Here's to all the happy years we will have together in the future! I love you D!

Here we go again!

For those of you who may not check Facebook, I thought I'd let the cat out of the bag "officially" on my blog. Here we go again with Rizer baby #3! :) We are unexpectantly expecting this new baby at the end of June. We are very excited, and Preston is super excited. He's hoping for a brother! :) I'm 11 weeks now and we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat the day before Thanksgiving. Other than being extremely tired, I'm feeling pretty good and looking forward (and terrified all at the same time) of adding another little Rizer to the family. Payton really has no idea what's going on, but she LOVES her babies and rocking/feeding/taking care of them, so I hope that's a good sign. :)

I will update again soon with pictures of the kids and what we're here to. Hope you're all doing well.