Sending messages to heaven

On Thursday we sent messages to Ryan in heaven to tell him how much we love and miss him. The forecast called for rain, but it was a beautiful day. The kids really enjoyed sending messages to Uncle Ryan, although Alison doesn't understand, Kaitlyn does.

Alison writing her message

Kaitlyn signing her message, which I wrote for her it said "Uncle Ryan I love you and miss you!"Ali had a lot to say

There go our messages off to Ryan!

Going to the snow

We took a little overnighter to our friends cabin in Kingvale a couple of weekends ago. We joined the Jones' for wine, snow and relaxation. It snowed the entire time we were there, it was so peaceful. We had a great time, minus the sleepless night and being thrown up on upon arriving home...but that's another story.

Kaitlyn making a snow Angel

Kole & Kaitlyn

If you are wondering why there isn't one picture of Alison in the snow...well she wasn't much of a snow bunny. She didn't like the clothes or the cold, a stark contrast to last years trip. But then again she was getting sick...hence the fun sleepless night and vomiting. Good times.

November...December...January...

How times flies when you are going to school full time...So, just to catch up on the last 3 months...we celebrated Alison's 2nd Birthday Nov. 26th. and Kaitlyn's 5th Birthday Feb. 13th...I can't believe Kaitlyn is 5 and Alison is 2!

They are growing up right before our eyes, so I will make a better effort in blogging more regularly.

Lake Tahoe in November

Before Brian & I had kids we'd do things, like get up and go bike riding in Tahoe...seems we aren't so spontaneous anymore. But we did get all spontaneous one beautiful November morning and packed up the bikes, and bike trailer and headed out to Tahoe for a day of bike riding and picnicking. The temps at the lake were almost 70 degrees.

It was a wonderful day!

Alison & Kaitlyn getting ready to go riding

One of my all time favs, Daddy & Kaitlyn enjoying the beauty of Lake Tahoe

Daddy & Kaitlyn by the water. Alison stayed back with me

2 GOOD reasons....

for not blogging since OCTOBER 2008 - almost 3 months!

1) School.
2) I lost my memory card in the slot in my notebook...I can't get it out... and only have memory for 10 pics on my camera now. Note to self, go buy a new memory card this week!

Halloween 2008

Halloween was extra fun this year, as Alison is all in the spirit of dressing up and trick-or-treating, not to mention eating candy. Kaitlyn was a "pumpkin fairy" and Alison a peacock! They were pretty cute to say the least.

Kaitlyn the Pumpkin Fairy

Kaitlyn & Alison in Kaitlyn's preschool parade

Kaitlyn & Kylee waving at the paparazzi

Alison watching from the sidelines

No more training wheels

Kaitlyn learned how to ride her bike without training wheels yesterday. We previously went out with her a couple of times to teach her, and she wasn't having it, until it was her idea. So after dinner last night she announced she wanted to ride her bike with no training wheels, and she did! We took her over to the school to ride around, and she took off and never looked back! She crashed a couple of times, once into the basketball pole and one crash was so bad, Brian and I ran over to her, but she got up both times, and said "that didn't hurt" got right back on her bike and took off! I'm looking forward to being able to run, while Kaitlyn rides...I hope I can keep up with her.

That smudge of dirt is from one of her crashes

Go Kaitlyn!

Speeding by!

Alison running after her sister who's so excited to start riding!

Yay! Alison

Alison went poop on the potty! This was a proud Daddy moment, because Alison told Brian "poop Daddy" and she went on the potty for him. She'll pee on the potty but this is the first #2!!! I'm sure we're not super close to having her completely potty trained but hey, it's one less diaper I have to change. Brian was yelling "get the camera" - for this shot!
Bye, Bye!

Messes, Messes, and More Messes!

Oh, the messes my girls make! Brian asked me the other day "is this all you do all day, clean up messes?" my response "pretty much." Sometimes I think I have the messiest kids in the world, but then again I'm a tidy-kind-of-gal, so maybe that's the problem ;-)

Above, is the door frame of our slider, that Kaitlyn painted a beautiful color of blue, while I was trying to rock Alison to sleep. I knew something was up, when she didn't come in 20 times wondering where I was.
Here's Alison cleaning up the entire box of Kix's that were spilt all over the table and floor while I took a very rare shower alone. I cleaned most of it up, but then she wanted to help, so I let her clean her own mess...never too early to teach them some responsibility!

Ali chose to pick up each piece and put it inside the vacuum, it was a long process!

Homemade Tortillas!

Making homemade tortillas was something I enjoyed to do with my cousins and Nanny when I was Kaitlyn's age. When my Auntie Donna and cousins Melissa & Roman were here, they taught Kaitlyn how to make homemade tortillas...she got really into it, and they tasted wonderful!

Auntie Donna, and cousin Melissa showing

Kaitlyn how to roll the dough out

Look at the concentration and effort!

Bishop Pumpkin Patch 2008

Earlier this month, Kaitlyn and I went to Bishop Pumpkin Patch, with her Preschool class. I felt so bad that Alison didn't get to join in on the fun, and Brian didn't really like the pumpkins Kaitlyn & I picked out (not big enough) so we made a family trip to the pumpkin patch. Alison loved the animals, and train ride. We managed to pick some pretty good sized pumpkins as well.

Alison trying to feed the already over fed goats!
Me & my girls

Alison...oh so cute.

Back to School

Okay, well actually back to school was September 3rd for Kaitlyn, but I'm turning out to be a not-so-good blogger. Kaitlyn's new teachers name is Mrs. Oversen, and Kaitlyn really enjoys the new challenges and new friends the Pre-K 5's class has to offer. We are looking forward to the pumpkin patch field trip coming up in October, it's something I do with just Kaitlyn, as Alison will also attend FPCP and will get to enjoy these fun times as well.

On another note, I too have gone back to school, for those of you who didn't know, I've been thinking about finishing my bachelors degree for years, but didn't know how I would do that with 2 kids. Well, thankfully I did a ton of research and found National University, which has online classes. This is my first week of Bio science, so I will update you in a another week or so to let you know how it's going for me. My final goal is to get my teaching credential and teach elementary school...some of my fondest memories of my childhood are when Ryan and I would play "school" and I'd be the teacher telling him what to do. Those were the days.

From Alligators to Otters

Kaitlyn has made leaps and bounds with her swimming this summer. Kaitlyn started out in Alligator class, and by the end of this last session - she can swim 100 yards on her own in the Olympic pool (with a break at 50 yards). She's now graduated into Otter pre-competitive preschool class where she will learn front crawl, butterfly, breaststroke and diving! She is so excited and proud of herself for the progress she's made, as are we!

Kaitlyn jumping of the diving board and swimming back to the side...Kaitlyn doing kickers & scoopers!
Big jumping by Kaitlyn!

All Summer Long...Part II

The boating season started a little on the difficult side with Alison. The first couple of day trips we took, she whined and fussed about having the life jacket on. Even though she's been boating since she was 5 months old, she was less than thrilled to have a life jacket on all day long. As you can see she's a pro now - she loves the "boata" as she calls it.

June 2008 - Alison on the Jones' houseboat (yes, we are blessed enough to have friends with a houseboat)
July 2008 - Kaitlyn on the swim deck of the houseboat
July 2008 - My tired girls, after a weekend of house boating,

I feel this way too.

All Summer Long...

First of all, I must apologize for the blogging hiatus. This summer has been busy, as you will see. We've been enjoying the fun things summer has to offer, from boating, camping, swim lessons, and fun times had by all.

May 2008 - Daddy, Alison & Kaitlyn on the floating campsite (yes, the campsite is really floating in the middle of the lake)
June 2008 - It's just not Summer time without a slip-n-slide
June 2008 - Summer isn't complete without

Brian showing off his improved riding skills!

18 months old & an art project gone bad!

Alison is already 18 months old! She is saying lots of words, her latest words are "no" and "not nice", she is becoming her own little self. Alison is a sweetheart, very social (just like her sister) and loving, she gets irritated easily, especially if she doesn't get her way - maybe an inherited trait from her Mommy?

Alison weighed in at a whopping 21 lbs. 11 0z. - 10th %-tile...she is a little peanut!!!

I had to capture this moment, Alison's first art project

Aww...look how proud and sweet she looks!

This picture was taken literally 30 seconds after the one above!

Here's to you Ryan - Happy 25th!!!

Today, is Ryan's 25th Birthday and in keeping with tradition we celebrated, by enjoying brunch at Scott's on the River. When we sat down Kaitlyn asked if Uncle Ryan was coming, and I told her he was there in spirit. My Dad gave a nice toast, and we all started crying...but then we started laughing at ourselves. My Mom gave a nice tip to the server, as Ryan always gave generous tips to waitresses. So here's to you Ryan!!!

Pop Pop, Alison, Grammy, Me & Kaitlyn

Scott's on the River

Grammy & Alison
The whole family

Run Rocklin 2008

For those of you who didn't know, I took up running a week or so before Ryan graduated to heaven. My last conversation with Ryan, was about running. The months after Ryan's "graduation" I trained for my very first race - Run Rocklin. Running has been great therapy for me, if you will. My Dad ran with me, at my pace - which wasn't too bad for a novice runner (me not my Dad). My greatest friend Kristy ran the 12k. Kristy gave us each an angel pin, to represent Ryan - he was rollin' with us.

Kaitlyn participated in the Kids 1/4 mile Fun Run, the next day I heard her complaining about being sore! I have no idea where she's heard that before...

Kaitlyn in action at the fun run, I didn't run with her as I figured she'd know what to do...see Grammy pointing her in the right direction...
My Dad and I after finishing my first 5k - I felt accomplished and strong that day...my best day in a long time.

In Ryan's Honor

We enjoyed a meal fit for a king - Ryan's name means "little king". Our out-of-town guests joined us for dinner in Ryan's Honor at the clubhouse. With the restuarant being closed that evening, the chef and entire waiting staff was brought in just for our dinner, so it was pretty special. It was informal and fun, with good company, good wine, and great food. The clubhouse even prepared a menu in Ryan's honor - I know Ryan would have said "what the hell! they printed my name on the menu?!" We sure enjoyed it, and I know Ryan would have loved it!

Celebrating Ryan's Life

Unfortunately we had to celebrate Ryan's life a little too early...but we celebrated Ryan's short time on earth just as Ryan wanted it. With Ryan's closest friends and family - it was small and intimate, and for a short while we felt like a little family, sharing stories and memories of Ryan.

We cried ,we definitely laughed and somehow thru all the sorrow everyone felt, I think everyone left with a warm heart.

Ryan will be missed by many but he touched everyone he knew in such a positive way, that he will never be forgotten by any. We sure do love him, and miss him dearly but he's with us always in spirit - that's for sure! (he knows what I'm talking about)

Ryan's friends with his car before the celebration, with a tribute they made for Ryan.
Ryan's friends with him looking on in the background, we know he was there in spirit.
Our little family enjoying the beautiful weather we were given to celebrate such a beautiful soul, it couldn't have been more perfect.
The most amazing picture of all - my Grandpa Bennett left Montana, and that never happens! Ryan's way of getting us all together? Maybe.