Big Boys Weekend, Mommy and Me!

Great news! Our car came in from Korea early so Heath took off on a last minute trip Thursday night to go pick it up in CA. He took Ryan along for company and a 'Big Boys Weekend Adventure'. The Southwest pilot (an ex-Marine pilot) invited Ryan into the cockpit and let him sit in the captain's chair and flip switches. He was impressed by Ryan's knowledge of a cockpit so Ryan proudly told him that his Daddy flies F16s in the Air Force and that's how he knows so much. Shortly into the flight the captain got on the loudspeaker and asked the other passengers to welcome Ryan, their honorary pilot, to the flight and let everyone know that Ryan confided in him that he wants to grow up to be a Marine pilot someday. I'm so sorry that I missed that!! But Will and I had a cozy little weekend together at home. We even had a date night at Chevy's - he must've known that mommy loves the fajita salad but rarely gets to eat there because Daddy and Ryan don't like that restaurant! What a sweet boy. We spent Friday at the park (and mall) and Saturday we played all day while I went through and sorted put baby clothes. Will was so helpful, making sure we each tried on every hat and wrapped every shirt around our necks. He also found the binkies (which he never took) and spent most of the day wearing my shoes, Ryan's pajama shirt, and chewing on his binky.

First Day of Preschool

Ryan started his last semester of preschool at Word of Life Lutheran School this week. We were very happy with the program, philosophy, class size, and LOCATION! We could walk there !!(though, let's face it. We probably never will) He was excited to go and is eager to make new friends. Too bad there are only 2 boys in his class though! I'm sure Bailey is thrilled to have Ryan around! He only goes 2 afternoons a week so full day kindergarten - mandatory here - will still be a big adjustment. The good news is that his school schedule aligns with Will's naptime so I may actually get a couple of hours to myself 2 days a week. At least for the next 9 weeks!

Happy 2008

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather on the 1st and went for a hike around the White Tank Mountains. There was so much more to see than we imagined! Supposedly, after a good rain (does that happen here??) there is actually a beautiful waterfall that spills into a canyon of white granite.....hence the name, because from what I've seen these hills look neither white nor like tanks. Anyway, we're off to get a backpack carrier for Will and then hope to spend more time enjoying the Sonoran Desert before our reptilian neighbors and deathly heat take over!

Christmas Bliss!

Will loves this little 'Rody' bouncer!

This is what Christmas morning is all about! Ryan made sure every Santa we saw knew that he wanted this Little Einstein's rocket above all other gifts! Santa tried to hide it behind the tree but Ryan zeroed in on it right off the bat!

Getting Ready For Christmas

You may see a common theme among my most recent blogs......that nothing is worse than moving in December! Aside from Christmas, we have our anniversary and Ryan's birthday this month. All of which seem to get lost in the shuffle and chaos. We tried really hard to make the holidays as normal as possible this year. Nothing says home, to me, more than our Christmas tree. Every year for our anniversary (12/16) Heath and I exchange ornaments and each year we buy a special ornament for Ryan and Will. I can remember the significance of each ornament from the past 7 years.....a new baby, new home, family vacations. All that matters. We had ourselves a merry little Christmas in our 'newest' home (our 9th in 7 years of marriage) and even found some time to do a little baking!

Birthday Party

Last year, aside from Ryan and Will, Uncle Nick was the youngest person at Ryan's birthday party. Being on a December move cycle didn't make this year much more promising for making new friends before his birthday! BUT, we are so lucky to have 2 very close friends/families living here in Phoenix, so we were actually able to pull off a small 'kids' party for his 5th! We went to Bounce U which is a huge room filled with inflatable jumping castles, slides, and obstacle courses. The kids had a ball, Ryan wore his crown the entire time, and we ended the afternoon with pizza, cake, balloons, and presents.

I can't believe that Ryan is 5. Sometimes I still see the baby in him - I still watch him while he sleeps and want to pick him up like I used to be able to do. He has grown into such an intelligent, sensitive, and amazing child. He has lived in 8 homes, 5 states, and 2 countries in his short life and has never whined or complained about all of the changes or separations. He can read, write, add, subtract, cross the monkey bars, ride a bike, and identify almost as many planes as Heath. I look forward to knowing the man he will become, but for the most part I try to hang on to everyday, selfishly not wanting him to grow because I will never have these days again. Being his mother is one of the greatest joys of my life.

Lazy Blogger!

I can't believe that I haven't posted since Korea! To say we've been busy would be an understatment. We've moved from Korea to CA and then from CA to AZ. In the past week we've packed and unpacked (kind of) 2 of our 3 shipments, bought furniture for the entire house (which won't get here for 2 more weeks so we can't put anything away), had 2 doctor appointments, had one birthday party, planned another, had our 7th anniversary, enrolled Ryan in preschool and basketball, spent 2 days in Flagstaff, put up the tree and lights and the rest is a blur.......AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

Anyway - we are really enjoying being together as a family again in the US. Here are some photos of the past few weeks. I will put up some more of Ryan's bday and the new house once things settle down a bit! Love, Nat

"If I'm cute enough maybe they won't notice the mess in my room!"

Ryan wanted a 'job' to do on Thanksgiving, so I let him mash the potatos. It lasted just about long enough for me to take the picture.

The Wimberleys on top of Coit Tower

Lunch at Bubba Gumps on Pier 39 in San Francisco

Boat tour of San Francisco Bay

Opening the Dinoco Helicopter!

Ryan's 5th birthday - nobody in town had a rocket ship cake...so this is my feeble attempt at a homemade!

Below photos are from Williams, AZ just west of Flagstaff. We took a couple of days to relax and get in the holiday spirit by taking a ride on the Polar Express to the North Pole to meet Santa!

Daddy put snow down Ryan's back!! What you don't see is Ryan's revenge - Heath getting nailed square in the junk with an ice block immediately after this photo!

On our way to dinner before boarding the Polar Express

Mrs. Claus....Will not diggin' her either This encounter with Santa went over much better than the photo attempt earlier in the evening!

On board the Polar Express!

Will is not so crazy about the snow

My little Eskimo!