Road Trip - Goin' North

Again for work I had to travel, this time to Vancouver, BC - yes CANADA. Since it's logistically impossible to get help with Dylan while Ryan is at work and school we realized Ryan would have to take the week off as well and decided if he wasn't going to be working he and Dyl should be with me! Besides, Ryan only had 13 (now 11) states left to visit and had never been to Canada so it could check off two states, one province and one new country. We headed out on Friday afternoon, Oct 16 and made it to Boise only 4 hours of 14 but we got some rest and went to Seattle the next day. It's slow going with little Dylan, he is really good but we have to take some breaks and let him play. We arrived in Seattle around 7pm and checked into a very nice Renaissance Hotel just a few blocks from Pikes Place. We walked down the steep city hill looking for someplace to eat and ended up at McDonalds - it amazes me how much Ryan can eat McDonalds! We didn't stay out long since it was kind of chilly and rainy but it was so beautiful, I really do love that weather. I know everyone says I would get sick of it but I'm not so sure about that...The next morning we went back down to Pikes Place to get the fresh little doughnuts I had been raving about since my last visit, they are to delicious to describe. Although as my ever-practical Ryan pointed out the whole experience probably contributes to their actual tastiness - whatever. After walking through the main touristy area of Seattle we were off again. Dylan fell right to sleep but those pesky border guards woke him up!

Dylan is a talented photographer...


We arrived at our hotel in Vancouver that afternoon around 3pm and pretty much just hung out in the room resting and letting Dylan expend as much energy as possible. I was up bright at early to head to my training session by 7AM. Ryan and Dylan mostly stayed at the hotel, watching toons and building forts like pictured below, Ryan says they were for Dylan but we all know the truth! There was also a massive mall next door where they went to play each day. Dylan was fighting a cold and it was pretty chilly so it was best to keep him inside when possible. We went downtown two nights and on our way out we did the loop drive through downtown during the day, including beautiful Stanley Park and the gorgeous bay. Did I mention I love this weather??


I don't know what's going on with the lights but it's very urban

This is Dylan literally hanging off the pier where he learned to say 'boat'

Stanley Park - how can you not love this fall weather?!

Franken-Dilly

This turned out to be the best costume for our not-so-steady walker! Dylan has gotten very good at walking the last few weeks but he still has that wide stance and puts his arms out for support, this made for the perfect Frankenstein. He would even growl as he was walking to you - it was Franken fantastic!


Thanks for the fun party Annie!

Dylan won first place for his realistic portrayal of Frankenstein.

I love these boys!

Happy Birthday to ... ME!

September was an EXTRA EXCITING month for me as I welcomed the big 3-0 with open arms! Thanks to my awesome husband for throwing an incredible party! He spent countless hours getting the backyard finished in time and it was not an easy task. The pictures speak for themselves, it turned out absolutely beautiful - Thanks babe!! Thanks also to Ashlii (she cleaned up the whole place after, including doing dishes - who does that?), Kristi, Marlena, Mak and Neil for helping with the food and rolling around 30 sushi rolls. And to Jim for taking photos and Florence for helping clean up as well.

I am so lucky to have such an incredible family and loving friends.

I love this patio!

Dylan was SO TIRED after all this fun! There were so many kiddo's - thank goodness Ryan had the genius idea of paying his awesome cousin Heather and her friend Jaime to babysit.

I love this picture of Dylan playing with Reagan - Look at all that yummy food!

How many people does it take to light this bonfire?? Thanks to Ryan for providing some extra air I couldn't get them all by myself!

Again with the beautiful yard and patio - Could Mike BE having any more fun!?!

Thanks again everyone - I couldn't have asked for a better birthday party!!

What's up with Dylan?

Dylan is walking! It's so exciting - he just wants to run and play with all the other kiddos and with his cousins visiting from Latvia for three months (starting Nov. 2nd - wahoo!) he'll have plenty of time for that. He also has lots of new words, he says his name when he sees a picture of himself, he says moon and he and Ryan go see it every night before bed, mickey mouse, duck, pat-pat (from Little Einsteins), sings the "Hot Dog" song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and he is at that age of the never ending no, no, no... It's so funny when he says it and he can be quite serious about it too, but he does NOT like it when we tell him no, he gets very upset. I really love to see him form his own opinions and express them!

He also got his first haircut this summer. I totally documented the whole thing but didn't keep any of his hair - what was I thinking!?!


Here he is sending his balloons around the world on his birthday. Lincoln - did you get them??

He watched them for a very long time...


The one year checkup, finally 20 pounds and a full 30.5 inches - wow!


Here he is helping Grandma Thomas AKA Ya-Ya (named by first grandson Lincoln) blow out her candles.


He's not a great eater and usually I will try to feed him spoon and fork food but let him feed himself finger food. I thought maybe letting him try the spoon with mashed potatoes would work - as you can see very little made it to his stomach.

Miscellaneous Summer

That title pretty much says it all!

I don't know about the rest of you but this summer has been CR-AZY for us! I am so ready for fall, even the mayhem of the holidays will be a welcome change. My job has been the main culprit in robbing us of any free time or social life, something that will change November 2nd, and next in line is Ryan's school - most of which ends November 6th. Phew! I just want to do...NOTHING!

I posted a while back that everyone should go to the Ogden Valley Balloon festival but never updated with our own pictures. It is always fun up there, although this year it was a bit windy so the balloons were not at their peak. However, the music was OF COURSE, excellent!! Dylan had been sleeping on the way up so he has his "Don't Mess" face on in most of the pictures, especially about the bunny ears - they were so not cool to him!






Ryan's family had a reunion this summer as well. It was 2 days of family fun! The first night my brother came and cooked a delicious dutch oven dinner for everyone. This was followed by the story of Ryan's great-grandpa in theatrical form - of course! The kids performed the story put to music and narration written by Kaiser and Jill, it was incredible. We also had a luau and dinner at Ryan's aunts house one night.