2 years later

Wow, am I behind or what??? Life truly has gotten away from me. Ryan has made it home!! YEAH!!! We truly have been blessed for that! Ethan is growing like a weed! He is now 3 1/2 feet tall and people ask me all the time if my sweet little boy is 5. He will be 4 late January. I can't believe how quickly things have gone by!

We have had so much fun having Ryan home though. He has started school and is really doing good. He has his stressful days, but all in all, he has made the Dean's list every quarter. We have loved being closer to family and we have loved, or I have loved, being back in the Pacific Northwest. How I have missed it.

This last September, I started Joy School for Ethan. He is loving it! For those of you who don't know what Joy School is, it's like a co-op preschool. But they are learning more than just letters and numbers. They are learning about themselves. So far we've learned that our bodies have 5 different senses. I think my favorite was when Ethan told me that he heard what a snore sounds like. He is so funny!

The other day, Ryan and I were laughing at something. I can't remember what, but Ethan comes running into the room and looks at me, laughing with his hand over his mouth and says, "Mom we are laughing at each other." With smiles and laughter on his face. What a kid!

We have also been potty training. What a chore that is! But I am happy to say, I think the kid has finally got it! We have a few accidents here and there, but for the most part, I think we got it. Yeah for us!

As for me, I'm still teaching piano. Still love it! I have also discovered canning. This year, my mom and I have canned, peaches, pears, all kinds of delicious jams, and apple pie filling. I am in love with autumn for one more thing now.
I am missing all my wonderful friends, but I am loving having my wonderful family together more and more. We have been so truly blessed!

My brother got married almost a year ago now. Same with my brother in law. We have had a few family reunions this year and it has been so wonderful having my siblings near. There are a few still missing, but we are thinking of them too.

I love that Ethan is getting to know and love his grandparents. I think he is getting confused of who is who and which one goes to which one. He is in love with his family. Thanks guys.
I will try harder to stay on top of this better. That is definitely a goal. I want this to be my journal, and I want to do my part with that! Thanks for being patient with my tardiness in writing. And thanks for keeping an eye on all of us. Sure do love and miss you all!

Life

So I know that I have been horrible at keeping everyone up to date, so I'll make things as quick as possible. Ethan and I moved to my mom's in Washington after Thanksgiving. We were lucky to have Ryan return home sooner than we thought, and we were able to spend some good times together packing up and driving from New Jersey to Washington. Let me just say that I don't advise driving through Michigan in the middle of February. I also advise, making sure you have your glasses with you when you leave your hotel room during a long hale drive. We make good time and were so glad to get our of the truck. Ethan loved it!! I wish I had my camera to take a picture of him in the big truck!

Once we got back to Washington, we had lots of work to do. We applied to school for Ryan and he was accepted to Eastern Washington University. We also had lots of Veteran stuff going on. Ryan was officially separated from the Air Force on the 11th of March.

We've been helping my mom remodel her house in Davenport. We have been working hard and it is still not finished. Life....

April passed with a fun Easter for Ethan. He loved hunting for Easter Eggs. Because of his allergies, Ethan got plastic eggs full of chocolate. He has such a sweet tooth. What a kid!!

May was much harder for all of us. We found out that my dear sweet uncle passed away due to a severe heart attack while camping in the Grand Canyon. He was so full of life and would have given anything to anyone. The funeral was held in Warden, WA where my grandparents live. It was a bitter sweet sorrow. I was able to see family that I haven't seen in a while. My brothers and sisters were together for the first time in 10 years. It was really nice. We were also able to see my uncles children who we haven't seen in years. It was so sad, yet so rewarding. There is something to be said about family and being around them when tragedy strikes. How grateful I am for a loving and supporting family.

We moved to Davenport the end of May and started a new life in the small town. Ryan and I celebrated our 7th anniversary the end of May. That was a great day. Once again, I'm so lucky to have so many loving people in my life. Ryan's parents also came to visit. It was so wonderful to see them.

The week after they came, Ryan's father was hospitalized with an infection to his joints. He is still in the hospital and we are hoping that he will have a full recovery. Things don't also seem to go as planned. We found out that he has a dislocated knee and both of his wrists are broken. We think once those heal, he will be back on track for returning home.

June brought two weddings. My dear cousin was married June 3rd in Bountiful, Utah. What a beautiful bride! We had so much fun. A week later we went back to Utah for the wedding of our dear friend, Haley. She lived with us for a year in New Jersey. It was so fun to see her go full circle. She too, was a beautiful bride. It was great to be able to be there for both of them.

Ryan started school mid June. That has been fun for him. He is on his first break from school and is loving being home and learning again. We got his grades for this last quarter and he is so smart. It's quite annoying sometimes. Love him, but too smart for his own good! He got 3 4.0's and 1 3.8. I would say he is on the road to the Dean's List. He really has enjoyed his classes and I am enjoying learning from him.

Ethan is constantly growing. It has been such a blessing for him to be near his family. He is so funny when an Aunt or Uncle are near, he brightens up and just enjoys the family. Uncle Jake has a dog named Pecos Bill. Ethan thinks the world of that dog. Today he asked where Pecos was.

Ethan,Baseball and Pedito

The other day, mom and I were cleaning the kitchen and we left Ethan watching his Mickey Mouse clubhouse movie. When we walked through the living room this is what we found. I was so surprised to see Pedito climbed up to sit next to Ethan. He has become a pro at annoying and chasing the dog. He has been loving every minute of it, but I can't help but feel bad for the dog.

Sweet smiles and even Pedito recognizing the camera. Really is there a cuter couple?

And now we are way to engrossed in the movie to pay attention to mom and the camera. Notice also that his binkie is NOT in his mouth! He is only allowed to have it when he is getting ready for bed, granted if you look really close, you'll see that he is eating a string cheese. Food sometimes wins over the binkie!

Ethan has had so much fun watching baseball with Grandpa. He has a little bat and has to have it in his hand when there is a game on. He hasn't quite mastered the fundamentals of how to actually hold the bat. I know that daddy has worked on it with him, but somehow that has slipped his mind.

Batting in action ends up looking like this. He is now realizing that in order to hit like a pro, it helps if you aren't sitting on a chair. That and holding the bat just right usually helps too. Ethan is into bringing a bigger ball to me so that I can throw it and he can practice his swing. It normally goes something like: mom throws, the ball hits the bat, Ethan swings late. A few times he has gotten the timing down to swinging when the ball is in front of the bat and then sometimes the ball ends up in the crook of his arm.

We really have been so lucky to be with Grandparents while Ryan is away. Ethan has learned so much from them. He has loved helping grandma do the laundry and loves to be watching his sports with Grandpa. We are looking forward to spending some family holidays with all of our family and loved ones. Seeing how we haven't been home for Christmas in six years!! We just wish that Daddy could be here with us.

Dog Tired

Most of these pictures are for Ryan. I know that it has taken me a while to upload them. So what happened was, I lost my charger and I haven't been able to download any pictures. I was able to buy a new one and these pictures are from Washington and our first day in Oregon. Yes I know, Ethan is wearing the same outfit in both pictures and they were taken almost 3 weeks apart. What is a mother to do? So here Ethan was so tired and he was refusing to go to bed. He wanted to stay and play with some cousins. As Amanda and I were folding clothes, he just layed down on the arm of the chair and fell asleep. How adorable is that little arm hanging off the side!?!

This is what Ethan did as soon as we walked into Grandma and Grandpa Clark's house. Ran straight to the dog and was so excited to play he didn't know what to do, so he showed me how strong he was. I was actually trying to get him to smile and I got these "stoned" face from him. In order to get him to show you his "tricks" there is an order and that order is strong, smile, giving 5, pound it and then..hiccups. And here he is doing the beginning of the 5. I really am so proud!

"So Strong!!"

And finally, the smile! Or some of one. And yes, his smile is squinting his eyes. What a character.

More Labor Day Weekend

"Go Team!!! C'mon Gramps, you can do it too!!! "

So we had a ball Labor Day weekend. I didn't get to finish uploading all of our pictures and I'm hoping we get to now. Ethan and I arrived to Oregon the Thursday before Labor Day Weekend. Friday we left to Washington. We were able to visit with lots of family. The best was Ethan was just starting to get into his sports. Here he is watching some football with Grandpa. He found this little red rocking chair and just had to sit in it. Once again, watching some football with Grandpa. He has just loved being with his grandparents while daddy is away. I was really amazed at how well he warmed up to so many new faces in such a short time. I guess they really do remember who loves them.

A few weeks ago I posted Grandma reading to him about the hiccups. Here he was just being a ham for the camera. Grandma was reading, yet again, "Hiccups for Elephant" to Ethan. He loves to be read to!

Earlier that day we went and visited with Uncle Bob and Aunt Sharon. Ethan wanted to color and Aunt Sharon was more than happy to oblige. So here he is smiling for the camera and just having some good fun!

He really did enjoy himself. I was so surprised how well he sat there and colored and drew and just all around did a great job. It was pretty late when we started for home and what a trooper he was!

I just love how he smiles in these pictures and how happy he is. He is such a great baby!

"Let's see if I can find more colors to use?!"

Labor Day Weekend

We have had so much fun playing with family these past few weeks while we have been in Oregon and Washington. This last weekend we went to visit Ryan's grandparents for the Labor Day Weekend. I don't know who had more fun, Ethan or the Grandparents!? Sunday evening, Grandma Clark was able to sit Ethan down long enough to read some stories to him. The book was about an Elephant who gets the hiccups. For those of you who haven't seen, one of Ethan's greatest tricks is getting the hiccups. We couldn't resist, the picture opportunity and the video. I don't know how well you can see this, but, he is making himself hiccup as grandma is reading to him. I know, what fun!

"Thanks grandma for the great story!"

Birthdays and fun

Since we've been closer to family, we've been able to actually do family things. Our dear and sweet Kellee, Ben's wife, had a birthday party at Tomato Street. They had a chalk board for the kids to write on. We were so lucky to have something to distract Ethan while everyone else was finishing up dinner and enjoying each others company.

Ethan is a pro at drawing on the board. Also at erasing. He has so much fun and is so curious about anything and everything that is going on. Gotta love our little man.

Happy Birthday Kellee.