If I Were a Consistent Blogger...

You would have seen these pictures (and maybe more) over the past month and a half. But since I'm not, this is all you get, AND you get them way after the fact :)!

We had a fun time seeing "Nemo on Ice" back in March. We had great seats, just a couple rows up from the ice. The costumes were very impressive. You almost forgot these people were skating! Of course, a family pose taken by the "usher" guy. And after the big day, Ryan encouraged anyone that came over to do Nemo on Ice at our place... now called Nemo on Wood! Can you see their ice skates? We traveled to Indiana for Easter this year. Here are some Easter morning eggs. Yes, that is a Spiderman egg. What kind of Easter bunny do we have? Sure, we're smiling here, but Ryan was really in the middle of a melt down. Guess we take what we can get!
And here is the campaign picture for when Steve runs for President... yes, he has a plan. But... I tell him he won't be doing it with this wife :)!!!Steve flew back home on Monday morning to work and Ryan and I stayed for the rest of the week as my mom was on Spring Break. We got to spend some fun time with friends and family. Here are some pictures of what may be becoming the annual trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. The robot section was what Ryan says was his favorite part of the day. Here's Grandma, Ryan and their new friend. Ryan building a robot...Photo op with the dinosaur...We just couldn't pass up these last two shots. After all, it IS all about us, right? No, we know that is far from the truth, but a great picture opportunity nonetheless. This was actually an exhibit entitled "The Power of Children: Making a Difference". OK OK.... so we aren't as famous as Anne Frank and Ryan White, but maybe we could pass it off on this blog! :)

Grandma Donna

April 9, 2007. A day we will not forget. It's been a year since my mom-in-law, Steve's mom and Ryan's Grandma left this earth to go to her eternal home, Heaven! How cool for her! How sad for us! It was the day after Easter, and for Ryan (and us, too), Easter this year brought back lots of memories of where we were last Easter. We are so thankful we had 3 days before to spend with her. We've talked lots about her this year and this week we talked with Ryan about how it had been 1 year that Grandma had been in Heaven. We should do something special to celebrate her. He said we should have a party! Well, despite more creative intentions, our party turned into a night out to dinner, talking lots about her and then coming home to have S'mores in the microwave. It was his pick for dessert and he decided it was either cupcakes because that's what we made for her last birthday or S'mores because he first tried them with her at the Dells in WI. The final decision was S'mores.
He had lots of good "chats" with Grandma, even when she just felt like sitting. She had a great way of captivating him into whatever adventure they were on, even if she just played along from the chair. One of the last adventures at our home was that they were Jonah aboard the ship and in the whale(right on the sofa).
. Another thing that Ryan wanted to do for the "celebration" was write a poem. I love the way little minds think. So he composed, and I put it on paper. Although it might be missing rhyme and rhythm, it brought tears to our eyes and would make Grandma proud! Here goes... it's Ryan's words with no deletions or additions.

Grandma, you read books to me when I was little and when you came to our house you played with me.
You gave me lots of Highlights(the magazine), toys, and books.
You taught me lots of nursery rhymes.
When it was Easter you died. All of us were really sad. We went to your funeral. I know you couldn't see us and then me and Mom and Dad got to bring flowers home. I got to keep one in my room and we planted a tree in our backyard to remind us of you.
I know you can't see this, but I have your toys and that birdie you gave me. I'm making lots of new friends at school and I remember I got that wrestling toy for Easter at your house.
I'm really really happy that you are with God, but sometimes I still feel sad. We are going to look at your book (scrapbook mom made) and remember you.

I Felt Wrong

My last post, I said new life was coming... I could feel it. The snow was gone. Wrong. Last night and today we've had strong winds and at least 3-4 inches of snow? Enough to have everything white again and schools closed :(... I was so looking forward to green, not white. Hopefully the weather guys are right and 60's are just a few days away?! I guess we can be thankful that God is not always predictable and has a sense of humor! It is April 11th, isn't it?

Sweet Home Minnesota

Good 'ole snow. We returned to this and frigid temps. This has been the longest winter since we've moved here... but I guess others of you have experienced the same where you are, too. We literally had almost a 100 degree temperature change from 60+ in California to -30 here, before the wind chill. Sweet..as Steve would say!
And this is from the snow on April 1st... the leaning tower of Frosty. It was actually upright the day before, but then the heat wave came. Pretty impressive, heavy snow man. Steve was home with Ryan in the middle of the day while I was gone, and I came home to a snow man taller than me. I wish I could have seen the process. They had to make a ramp to lift the middle "ball"!

Today the birds are chirping and the snow is gone, hopefully for good! New life is coming!!!! I can feel it!

Magical Moments

Well, for you faithful readers, here are some pics from our California trip I promised a month ago. God is working on my patience in the big and little things of life, like Blogger uploading!!! It was a good trip and Disney is magical, even during the waiting in lines :)! Magical for a 5-year-old, for sure. I'm not so sure it was magical for a 30-something uncle and 70-something Grandpa, but they went along for the ride, regardless. It was also nice to see some sun and 60+ degrees in February and visit family we rarely see. These are in no specific order....
A special cousin that Ryan met for the first time... and he admired her very much. And she humored his desires to be with her non-stop very well. Thanks Amanda!
Chip and Ryan... just so you know Chip has the black nose like a chocolate chip and Dale's is brown and more round! We did one character breakfast. I'm having a hard time uploading some of the pictures, one being of Ryan and Princess Jasmine in her bikini top. You should see the look on his face... he was a little apprehensive and asked why she was showing her belly button? :)
Steve and brother Jim in an intense round of bumper cars... they were really pretty lame and didn't pick up much speed, what do you expect with a bunch of young kids driving? They ended up being "stuck" in a pile up for part of the drive. Grandpa was involved too, but I didn't get him on camera.
Steve, his sister Diana, her daughter Amanda, and Ryan on the pier at Huntington Beach. It was chilly, but fun to be at the ocean. We spent a few of the days visiting with Diana's family at their home. It was good to spend time getting to know them better. My camera battery died shortly after this, so I missed Ryan getting his feet wet and playing in the sand.
Getting yet another autograph from Pluto. These guys do a great job seeing out of their mouth!!
Waiting for breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen! One of the most expensive breakfasts you can find!! :)
Brotherly bonding as we wait in line for the new Nemo ride.
Aboard Tom Sawyer's boat ride.... we saw a real live plastic/stuffed moose!
The family pose complete with squinting!
This would be Dale... see the nose?
Silly faces as we wait in line.
Checking out the view from Nemo's submarine.
Another squinting pose in front of THE castle. Good thing we didn't go into photography, huh?
Aren't we cute? Another 3-D movie. Some of them very impressive, yet we possibly traumatized Ryan from a few. He is not necessarily the bravest little guy. Wonder who he gets that from?
We all live in a yellow submarine. This Nemo ride did take us under water and the effects were fairly impressive.
And last but not least, Ryan's favorite ride. Buzz Lightyear's Ride. We only rode it 5 or 6 times in our short visit, and a few times with a hefty line!

Good times. Great weather. Great to hang out with family.

With Love... from Batman

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

The pre-school Valentine's mailbox...Batman with a little pink and red. Thanks to Dad who does the work, with the help of Mom and Ryan's ideas. Ryan had to miss the actual Valentine's Party and Mom's day at school... but he still had a fun Valentine's Day in California. Pictures of that to come if Blogger allows.... I really have been trying, Erin!!!

F-f-f-frozen

Well, we may not have a lot of snow, but we got ICE!!! A friend asked me the other day while we were running to our cars in the negative teens(before the wind chill factor), "are people really suppose to live here?" I wonder! We have the heat wave today in the 20's and we are thankful.

The annual Winterfest brings about the "so-called" caste and sledding slide every year, if there is enough ice and cold weather. I think we had it all covered this year. We grabbed the sleds one day during Steve's lunch hour, despite it only being zero degrees. We managed to have some good sledding, snapped a few pictures, left the car running, and enjoyed its warmth after a short 15 minutes. Maybe we'll hit it one of these days during the heat wave before it melts!

The back side of the slide (complete with the "moved in trees")

Ready to slide

The boys

The Mama with Ryan "on deck"

Flying Ryan

The castle

A view to give a better perspective on the size

Now I'm hooked!

OK... slide show # 2 for the day. When she blogs, she blogs :)! OK... I'm not really blogging... just picture posting, I guess! Anyway, here is the weekend when Ryan turned five. January 6, 2008. And he's so excited to be the big 5. We had a kid party on Saturday with 13 kiddos from 3-6 yrs old. We were a little nervous, but we did it. Two accountants entertaining little bundles of energy for 2 1/2 hours. It really went well and was fun for us. Who knows how much fun they had, but we enjoyed it. Complete with pass the kryptonite(aka hot potato), pin Spider man's mask on the wall, and a safe "pull string" :) pinata. Unfinished basements are a great thing for this occasion! Again, Ryan is a blessed little guy! Thanks to all of you who have contributed to his spoiling!

Ryan's FIVE!!!!

Technically Challenged

Below is what I thought would be the easy way to show lots of pictures at once? I think my impatience with the uploading was the main obstacle. The pictures try to capture our week of Christmas travels to Rushville, IN and then on to Grand Rapdis, MI via Chicago area, too. We are truly blessed, not just because of the presents under that tree!!... but because God loves us and graciously gives much to us each day!

Week of Christmas

Early December in Review

Happy New Year to you all! We hope your 2008 is off to a great start. Thought we'd try to get back at this blogging thing. It was a New Year's resolution, and it's the 10th already? Why am I not surprised? The pics below are just a peak at what the beginning of December was like. It was a fun month, but it sure seemed to fly by.

Here is a not so good picture of Ryan's Sunday School class up on stage for their part of the Christmas program. I was videotaping and Steve was home in bed barely moving after his little fall from the rock wall. I pulled this one off of the church's website. Ryan is seated and is playing the part of Joseph. He was so proud to have that role:)!Here's a close up of little Joe! I was very thankful for a mature performance.:) Two years ago, the story was a little different. Here was a close runner up in the millions of pictures we attempted for a Christmas card. He is a handsome fellow, if I do say so myself!
Playing in the snow for me would mean sledding, building a snowman, maybe some snow balls? Nope, not for Ryan. For him, it means jumping and throwing yourself on the snow covered cement driveway!!!Even at nearly five, he still has such an awe of the Fisher Price Nativity scene. I love the admiration he gives that plastic baby Jesus. It was a battle to not leave the plastic scene up on the mantle. Maybe I shouldn't have been so mean? And while Ryan and I are attempting to get all the Christmas decor in just the right place, Steve is determined to make this year's gingerbread house a little more complicated than the last one? I know he'd hoped it would be a family tradition, but Ryan and I just don't seem to have the same level of determination, perseverance and patience as our hubby/daddy! Does that surprise any of you?
Next year we may have to move up to the professional grade Kitchen Aid mixer. This one was humming and not smelling so great after all that batter! Voila.... it didn't make it to the fully decorated stage this year. But the construction, in and of itself, is pretty impressive! Great job, Honey!
And these last 2 are actually in November. It's amazing that there is no line for Santa if you stop by on his first day at the mall... November 17th!!! Yikes that's early, but hey.. it was well worth the (lack of) wait! He even had to make sure Mrs. Claus had a few requests.... we all know behind every good Santa there is an even better Mrs. Claus, right :)?
We treasure the innocence of this picture. I'm sure we won't have too many more years of "believing" in the fun. Ryan did say himself that he loves Jesus the most and Santa is just for fun!