Ryan's Day 2008

The kids look forward to their special day every year. It's a special day where we thank God for putting them into our family, and we celebrate it each year on the day we finalized their adoptions. Ryan has been saying for months that he wanted to go to the beach for "Ryan's Day," and so when we asked him if he'd like to go camping at the beach too, he was very excited!


Unfortunately, Daddy struggled with a migraine most of the weekend, but Saturday (Ryan's Day) was the worst. After the kids and I got up and had some breakfast, we decided to ride our bikes over to a large sand dune in the campground and let Daddy sleep off the shot he had given himself and hopefully the migraine too. This was the first time we have taken the bikes with us, and it was fun to ride around the campground. (Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera with me!)


We met Daddy on our ride back to the campsite. His head was still hurting, but he felt good enough to take a ride into Tillamook. We drove into town and hit a few of the local spots (we were doing a multi-cache geocache which took us to the main attractions in town), one of which was the Blue Heron Premium Cheese Company. Daddy and I had been here before, but this was the first time we'd taken the kids. We quickly browsed the gift shop (okay, the kids had to use the bathroom), sampled some smoked brie (yum), and then headed out to the main attraction for the kids...the petting farm and old machinery.


We have noticed an interesting phenomenon with Ryan: Whenever we go camping, he seems to push away his fears and be braver than usual. Last year he slept in his own tent, and this year he climbed trees (he's usually terrified of things like that) and willingly fed the farm animals and alpaca (he typically is very skittish and stays away from them). Go figure.




We managed to pry Ryan away from the heavy machinery by letting him choose where we ate lunch...McDonald's. After eating lunch, they played in the play place for awhile. Once we dangled the Tillamook Cheese Factory & Ice Creamery in front of Ryan, he was ready to leave MickeyD's and go have some dessert!


See, I was there too!
The place was packed! We even had to park in the overflow parking, which we'd never done before. Despite the crowds, the wait in line wasn't very long and we even found a table fairly quickly. We ate our ice cream, looked at the Morning Star ship dry docked in the front of the creamery, and then we headed back to the campground.


Ryan wanted to go back to the beach, so that's what we did. I stayed in my jeans because I about froze the last time we went down there, but the kids assured me they needed to go in the water this time so they wore their swimsuits (so did Daddy, who regretted it later). We dug a long trench, Ryan played with his bulldozer, and Abby pretty much just dug in the sand the whole time.


Despite the temperature being in the 70s, the wind was blowing so hard off the ocean that it was really chilly (typical of the Oregon coast). Dismissing my warnings that they would get REALLY cold, the kids decided to get into the water. They had great fun...for about 10 minutes before Abigail decided it was entirely too cold (didn't I say it would be?) and she wanted to go back to the campsite!


Ryan, however, was undaunted by the icy water and blowing wind. He happily ran in the waves a while longer. I finally had to take Abby back to the more sheltered campsite and build a fire to warm her up (I confess, I was happy to go!), but Daddy and Ryan stayed a bit longer, playing in the water and sand and building a sand castle.


We ended the day with a hot dog roast, which is one of the things Ryan most wanted to do on his special day. It wasn't exactly how Ryan had planned the day to go, but he had a great time nonetheless. We are so blessed to have him for our son, and it is fun to make a big deal of it each year. We love you, Ryan!

Celebrating Abby's Birthday

We took advantage of our first day with temps above the 60s to be outside enjoying the sunshine. Since it was Abby's birthday, we got her "approval" to go to the coast and do some tide pooling. First we stopped at a fun logging camp restaurant, Camp 18, and Ryan wouldn't stop bugging us to go climb on all the old equipment.


Then, much to Ryan's dismay, we made a brief stop to see what was left of the tallest Sitka Spruce in the U.S. Ryan had no interest in this at all and just wanted to get to the beach!


Not the Sitka we came to see, but a neat tree formation nonetheless.
Finally, after some parking issues, we managed to climb down onto the beach. There were lots of people out enjoying the negative tide and the sunshine, but it really wasn't too terribly crowded.



Haystack Rock and the Needles.
Ryan was dying to see starfish (which he did), and he also saw muscles like this huge one he's holding, and anenomes and other critters. He even muscled up the courage to hold a hermit crab that Daddy found among the rocks and barnacles!



Ryan really enjoyed himself, especially once he found his much-sought after starfish. But all good things have to end, and the tide came in after a couple of hours so we left the beach and went geocaching before heading home.


Once we arrived home both kids were dying for Abby to open her gifts. Ryan has known what he wanted to get Abby for months now, and she was very excited to get it, a baby to go with her other Snap 'N Style dolls! Here he's giving her a birthday kiss, for him a more magnanimous gesture than the gift itself.


We were hoping that once Abby got a bike Ryan's competitiveness wouldn't allow him to give in to his fear any longer, and we weren't disappointed! While Abby was getting her new helmet and pads on, Ryan got out his long-forgotten bike and tore around the street like he had been riding it every day for the last two years. We hardly been able to get him to ride it because his fear of falling sucks all the joy out of him riding it (and drives me to distraction!), but yesterday he either conquered his fear or quit pretending to be so afraid and had a blast riding bikes with his sister!

Easter with Gramie

Though Easter kind of crept up on me quickly this year, we did still manage to do most of our usual activities. Ryan loves to bake cookies, especially roll-out ones where you get to cut them out and decorate them. So we made a batch of sugar cookies, and they turned out quite pretty!


We had the special treat of having my mom visit for Easter. Before picking up Gramie at the airport, we had enough time to do a few geocaches. We haven't been for months due to the wet weather, but it was finally dry enough. We put Ryan up in this tree for a picture and he tried his best to be brave, but you can tell he's clinging to the tree and can't wait to get down!


Next we headed to the airport where the kids waited impatiently for Gramie to arrive. It was a fun reunion!


That evening we colored eggs with Gramie.


Then Sunday was Easter! Ryan looked rather handsome in his vest and slacks.


Trying on Abby's Easter bonnet...silly boy!


Ryan and Abby each got two baskets this year: one from Mommy and Daddy and one from Gramie.

A Fishy Party!

Ryan had his party yesterday. He wanted a fishing party, so I did my best despite a dearth of fishing themed items at the party stores. Daddy, Mommy, and Ryan all donned our fishing attire, I baked a fish cake, we had a waterfall complete with salmon running, and various other fishing decorations in addition to the usual streamers and balloons (which were varying shades of blue like water).



We had eight kids and five adults present, and it felt a bit chaotic at times. Overall, though, it went smoothly. The kids played for a while, then we started the games. We played "Pin the Fish on the Hook," which was pretty fun to watch. We had fish all over the place, and only two even made it on to the poster!


Next we brought out a small wading pool filled with packing popcorn (all the parents took a collective breath and said something or other about us being brave). We mixed in some paper trout, blindfolded the kids and each got a turn to see how many fish they could "catch." It was much harder than it looked! I thought Abby was going to win, but she got beat out by one fish.



Lastly, we rigged up a fishing pole with a plastic hook and each child fished a treat out of a pond of goodies. Again, this was harder than it looked and a couple kids (Ryan included) ended up needing some help with it. But each child got a small toy, and they liked that a lot!


Next Ryan opened presents and somewhere in here I lost control of the party! Everyone was throwing their gifts at him and he was opening them and then it was over. I was glad we gave him our gifts earlier in the week, except for a set of Nerf guns and ammo to go with it.


Finally, we sang to Ryan and cut the cake. After cake and ice cream (and Goldfish and Gummy Worms) the kids played a bit more until parents came to get them and/or packed them up to go home.


Ryan and Abby were both overexcited all day long and were pretty hyper during the party, but they both had a good time. Ryan was blessed to have all but one of the kids he invited attend, and the other little boy is having us over tomorrow for a special birthday lunch! He got to celebrate with some new friends, current friends, and even one friend we haven't seen in quite a while. He received some neat gifts, including two Lego sets, which he is really getting into these days.


It was a success, it was fun, but I'm so glad it's all over! It took 90 minutes to put the house back together. We had to move all our living room furniture around to accommodate all our guests and the party games! I think next year we'll go back to the small intimate celebrations we usually do.

He's Six

11 days old.
Several years ago not long after we adopted Abby, we were eating at the Olive Garden and I noticed a family with two tweenage kids eyeing us periodically. They were smiling at Ryan and Abby and seeming to enjoy watching our babies. As they were leaving the mom looked at me and quietly said, "Blink and they will be this age" indicating her two children. She was smiling but I could see tears brimming in her eyes. I'm not sure why, but that one comment has remained with me. I can still see her face.


Showing his new watch and Lego kit he got today.
Today I feel like I have blinked. Ryan is six. Those years are gone and can't be retrieved, only reminisced over while turning a scrapbook page or clicking through our thousands of digital pictures. There are other memories too, ones only captured by a Mommy's heart. I treasure those mental snapshots and look forward to the new ones yet to be made. To us he is our miracle, and I love being his Mommy.


Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Making Invitations

Ryan is very excited because he is going to have his first "real" birthday party this year! We have had a friend or two over before, but usually we keep it really low key and just do a family activity to celebrate. Now that we are settling in to our new church and neighborhood, he has enough friends to have a larger party. He chose a fishing theme for his party, and yesterday he helped me make his invitations.

Christmas Day

It has finally happened. I wondered if and when it would. I remember having the same problem when I was a child. Ryan couldn't get to sleep on Christmas Eve because he was too excited. I was especially surprised because we have had such long days with no naps or quiet times, so I thought he'd just crash.


He did finally fall asleep, but he was up bright and early at 6:45 dressed and ready for the day. He was a bit impatient when I reminded him that we were going to wait for Abby to wake up and we were going to eat breakfast first, but finally Abby got up about 7:30 and we began the day.


We got our stockings down first. Ryan was pretty excited by a couple of things in his. I've been saving a Cars car, DJ, for a while to surprise him. He has been collecting all the cars (well, lots of them anyway) and this was one we had trouble finding. Then we opened presents from grandparents and cousins. As usual, our generous family sent way too many gifts, but we are grateful for their giving hearts!


After playing games (we got quite a few!) and enjoying our new things, we had a yummy dinner that even Ryan enjoyed! One of the best surprises of the day was the snow that fell all day long! It didn't stick, but it was such a joy to watch it drifting through the air throughout the day.

Christmas Cookies

We baked two different kinds of cookies to give to the neighbors as love gifts, and there were only a couple of each left. I also baked a favorite of mine growing up, Russian Teacakes, but it turns out neither of my kids really like them. Ryan has been wanting to make cut-out cookies for a while, so we made a batch of those to please him. I don't often make them, mostly because I haven't found a recipe I really love (anyone know a good one?). It's a lot of work and mess to roll out, cut out, and decorate cookies that really don't taste that great. I also get frustrated because they all seem to lose their shape so much, but I digress.


I tried yet another receipe, and the kids had fun rolling and cutting. Abby was overtired and had to be sent to bed for a nap, so Ryan did most of the fun job. He sprinkled a few with some colored sugar, but we saved the rest to frost with icing.


Little did I know we wouldn't be able to get back to frosting them until Christmas Eve! But then Daddy joined in on the decorating, and that made it even more special. Since he's usually at work when we do all the baking and crafts and fun stuff during Christmastime, it was nice to include him. In fact, he may have found a hidden talent...his cookies turned out really cute!


In typical kid fashion, both kids frosted about three cookies, and then they were done, leaving the rest for Daddy and I to finish. (To be fair, Abby would have kept going but we had to take everything away from her because she kept putting it all in her mouth!)

Something Different

We had a change of plans for the weekend before Christmas, and Sunday evening was spent at Daddy's office. Ryan was thrilled though because we let them each open on gift early so they could have something to play with while we were there all night. He opened the gift from cousin Alisha, a marble run!


I also brought a new Color Wonder packet for each, and Ryan enjoyed coloring for quite a long time. Finally, the projector was set up in the conference room, I popped some popcorn, and they watched a couple of movies on a big screen!