auction night

Rob and I ready to go to the Charles Wright auction.

September Summary!

It has been an extremely busy fall! Here's what we've been up to:

Ryan's cake, decorated by grandma and mama

 Ryan: First and foremost - Happy Birthday, sweet boy! Ryan turned two yesterday and we celebrated by having 40 friends and family over for dinner, a pinata, play time on our new swing set/big toy and of course, cake and ice cream. It did rain a bit, but our friends are such troopers and everyone grabbed boots and coats and made the best of things.

Ryan got his cast off in late August and is back to running, jumping and climbing. He can sing his ABC's, loves Curious George, still takes long afternoon naps, and is learning how to use his imagination (SO fun to see him pretend!). We have been working on a few new concepts...one is man vs. woman...we're still working on that one! And I'm also trying to help him understand what "changing his attitude" means. He calls it his "atti-tune" - which I love. He is grasping concepts that surprise us and keeping him busy and engaged is important these days (otherwise he gets bored and sometimes naughty). We'll be getting him back into swimming lessons again soon and hopefully finding other outlets for our busy little guy.

I am excited for Ryan's year ahead and know there are so many adventures in store for him. He is A LOT of fun and personality-packed. Rob and I both comment daily how "funny" or "cute" Ryan is and our hearts are full and lives so much richer because of him.

Rob: after Labor Day weekend, Rob and a friend left for a week of elk hunting. They had no cell service and he had a long week of hiking, biking, sleeping in a tent and getting rained on. He and his hunting partner saw two elk on day one they wish they would had gone for. As it turns out, they didn't get a shot again the rest of the hunt.

Two days after he got home, Rob started building Ryan and Ashlyn a swingset from scratch. It's HUGE and has three swings, a super long slide, a large platform/tower, climbing wall, stairs, and covered sandbox. He still needs to put the roof on and I will get a photo of it up soon. He worked on it for the whole last week so it would be ready for Ryan's birthday party yesterday. Everyone at the party thought it was from a "kit" - if I may toot his horn...he is amazing! He can think in 3-D and after he and I sketched our plan, he just went out and built it! Thank you, honey! A HUGE thank you to my parents as well for helping with childcare and lending a hand so we could get this built. My dad helped shovel 5 yards of pea gravel and who knows how many pounds of sand...he is an energizer bunny!

 Ashlyn: is now 5 months old, still a great sleeper/eater, and very smiley! She tries to "talk" to us now and is starting to show her personality more and more. She has a great sense of humor and laughs at us (hey Ashlyn, be nice!) a lot, but also has a quick fuse when she's over tired or hungry. She is just now entering into that "fighting sleep" phase I remember Ryan having. Thankful for the paci these days :) She is long but little - weighing about 14 pounds. She's far from the supersized baby her brother was! It is fun seeing her personality develop and get a kick out of her when she "gets the giggles".

Brooke: I am thankful to be healthy and am overall very happy, but work for me this year is proving to be more challenging than ever before. I have referred to this year is "The Year of the Hampsterwheel" and with reason! I am still working as the Marketing Director and am in the office 80%.  I do have an assistant now, but I have also taken on a new job in addition to my current position. So...I am now the Director of Marketing and Alumni Relations. I am trying my best to keep up with a toddler, infant, and a new and bigger job. So far so good, but as you can see from my infrequent blogging, I'm B.U.S.Y.  A little too busy for my taste...but I'm thankful to have a job with great co-workers, benefits and retirement. And it's fun to have a new challenge set in front of me. I may have to forego some of my personal time blogging etc, but I'm hopeful I'll get a handle on my new pace and get back to my hobbies soon :)

I hope all of you are well. We were blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family celebrate with us yesterday that I feel caught up on many of your lives. Facebook is also such a great and easy way to stay in touch. I will post more soon and next time I'll make sure it's in the from of great photographs! xoxo, Brooke

4th of July

The Fourth of July we celebrated our fourth anniversary and enjoyed a gathering and dinner at my Uncle Jack and Aunt Ling's house. My cousin Jessica and my parents were there as well.

Ryan rode his new quad and bicycle from his Auntie Myra and cousin Nicole as well as a bike my dad found (that is pink!).

What a fun day!!

Auction

Last weekend was the Charles Wright Auction.  Much of the planning is coordinated by my office, so it kept me very busy last week. I have more photos of Ryan to post soon, and now that the auction is behind us I'll have some time to do it!

Here is a photo of Rob and I on March 20th (baby Judgie at 36 weeks!)