Sunday, November 11, 2012

WonderFALL family memories

Ryker has been busy growing up! We can barely keep up with him. He is a sponge! At 18 months old he is addicted to VeggieTales- movies, youtubes, games, you name it if it has VeggieTales on it he loves it! He is also a master at the ipad. He knows how to turn it on, find his own apps, and play his videos or games. Don't worry, we only allow him on it a very small amount each day. He doesn't mind too much however because he is extremely active. He can't get enough of being outside. The weather has turned very cold, yet he still wants to be out there bundled up and all.

I should back up a little and say that we moved a month ago from Newberg to now Tualatin! We are so thrilled with our move. It took Ryker about 3 days to get used to the new house. Not only is it in Tualatin, it is a few minutes from our church, close to our family, it has a perfect size backyard, in a cul-da-sac, and plenty of room for Ryker to run around!

Here are lots of pictures to catch up on the last few months!

Pumpkin Patch Day

 Someone found his bumbo chair while moving to the Tualatin house






Helping daddy build the desk for the new office

 Being silly 

 Halloween with his buddies, Charles and Luke!

 Walking around the neighborhood, collecting things as we go

 Making homemade Play dough! 

 Swinging is so much fun! Loving the park SO close to us!


Working in our new backyard! Helping mommy and daddy mow the lawn!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Beach Day

Last year at this time we tried to take Ryker to the beach. It turned out he didn't like it so much, maybe it was the wind or maybe it was just a bad day, but Anthony and I told each other we are coming back to the same place in exactly a year to see how much our little boy has grown. This last trip to the beach was completely different! He loved it! And when I say loved it, I mean really LOVED it! He got to do everything he loves, digging, exploring, splashing in the water! What more could a 15 month old want?! Enjoy ALL of the pictures!


 Didn't take long at all to start digging!


 Busy creating something...
 exploring by the water

 Mr. Independent 
 "Daddy follow me"

 Loved the water, so much so he couldn't wait to get his swimsuit on
 More digging
 Lunch break!
 This is the spot Anthony and I have escaped to for a few years now. It is perfect for viewing and eating!
 Daddy making a hole and Ryker filling it back up

 Anthony went down to get more water from the ocean, Ryker needed to know where he was.
 Where did daddy go?
 My boys! 
 He's back!
 Come on daddy!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Community Heros

This morning a small act of kindness happened to my son that made me think of another act of kindness I witnessed a few weeks ago, I was so touched by both I wanted to share. Lets start with this morning:

Ryker is quickly becoming a boy in every way! He loves to push his cars around making "car" noises, wrestle, run, climb, and do, well just about anything, to injure himself. One thing he loves is watching real people in action. We have yard service in our neighborhood every Wednesday, and Ryker will try to find the nearest window to sit and stare. Mind you, he is still too short to see out our windows, so someone gets to lift him up and watch the action with him. He will not move until "his buddies" are out of sight. This morning, the garbage man came through our neighborhood. As soon as Ryker heard the loud truck, his eyes got wide and a big goofy grin stretched across his face! He gave me the look, you know the mommy I want up look. So of course I quickly obliged! I decided to take it one step further today and actually walk outside, still in our pajamas and messy hair, so he can really get an up close look. The garbage man saw us watching as he pulled up to our house and instead of ignoring Rykers excited interested face, he smiled and gave a big wave! Being so excited myself that he waved, I began waving back as if he was a celebrity in a parade! Ryker still watching intently on the work at hand stared blankly at him. Once he unloaded our dirty diaper filled garbage, he turned around and waved again! At this point I couldn't let such a kind gesture go unnoticed, I quickly grabbed Ryker's hand and waved it myself back at him. Yes this is something so small, but in the eyes of my little boy, he looks at community helpers as heros, and who doesn't want to get a wave (or two) from their hero.


 Using Mommy's sweater as a cape!


 Here is what happened a few weeks ago on our vacation. On our last night of our family vacation we went out to the new, Old Spaghetti Factory in Rancho Mirage. Again, reiterating that Ryker is quite an active boy, once he is done eating he wants to move! So, while Anthony and parents finished up, I took Ryker outside to walk around. Anthony met up with us as we walked down the street to the main road where Ryker was drawn to all of the cars zooming by. We sat on the corner and pointed at different cars and commenting on colors and size, when we soon heard sirens. Ryker excited but a little apprehensive, looked around to find the noise, while clinging on to me. A firetruck quickly appeared lucky for us it was heading for our street, so we could get a closer look. The Firefighters spotted Ryker and quickly turned off their sirens, JUST FOR RYKER! We were so impressed! But before we could walk away we heard more sirens and right behind was an ambulance. Again they saw Ryker and they too turned off their sirens, but they went a step further, rolled down their window and waved and smiled at Ryker as they quickly sped off to the actual emergency. Ryker was so excited and clapped and giggled. Anthony and I were so touched by their gesture we couldn't stop talking about how such a simple act of kindness could not only touch a small little boy's heart, but two grown adults' too!

I wanted to share these, purely to remind you that just a kind smile will make a person's day, or a simple wave. Be like Ryker's community heros and be kind especially when you aren't expected to be.

Playing in the pool, and stopping to watch the maintenance crew

Eating spaghetti at The Old Spaghetti Factory!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

First Family Vacation

Since I have now lived in Oregon for 29 years, I know that summer here doesn't start until the second week of July, so I thought what a perfect time to plan our first family vacation! School for me ended Friday and we left early (4:45 am early) Saturday morning for the airport to sunny Palm Springs! Here are some pictures of our wonderful vacation.
 Flying would have been great if Ryker didn't mind sitting still! Thank goodness it was less than 2 hour flight! Ryker loved the take off and watching everything get smaller! 
 First time seeing the pool! 
 Breakfast by the pool... why not?
 Floating like mommy
 Daddy and Ryker exploring as they do
 When in Palm Springs... GOLF! Ryker teeing up his golf ball on a LEGO piece, look at the hip movement! =) 
 Visiting GG and Grandpa, GG showing Ryker around the Condo. He was SO happy to see them!

 He wasn't too sure about the floaty, but he enjoyed it when he relaxed =) He liked it better when he feet touched. 
 Playing on the steps with Nana
 This is the life! Watching Disney Jr. after a long nap in his lounger
 Ryker's favorite toy at Nana and Ahpa's Palm Springs house. Mr. Fix-It just like daddy!

 Ryker thought my hat was so funny! I love these pictures, I can hear his giggles every time I look at these!
 Ryker is so lucky to have great grandparents that adore him as much as we do! My heart is full whenever I see him with them! 
Wait! You are telling me that we have to leave this place?!
This was such a wonderful FIRST family vacation! We had so much fun with the McKillips and Ryker's buddy Charles when they came down for a few days, my parents, and my grandparents. This is a trip we will cherish for a long time! Thank you Nana and Ahpa for allowing us to take over your beautiful Rancho Mirage home!