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.