Time to Decorate

All I can say is .... yay! Kit & Elizabeth came out of storage!

Our little Tiny Tim loves decorating the tree and this picture cracked me up when I saw it - I'm not sure what he's doing under the tree staring at the wall....

How Did This Happen??

My baby girl got her braces off this week and also visited the salon for a fresh hairstyle. As I was watching her get her hair cut and listening to her chatting with Tracy, my fave hairstylist, I wondered again, where does the time go? This week was a week of growing up on the outside, but Casey is growing up beautifully on the inside as well. She's a strong, confident, tender hearted young lady who loves her friends, school and gymnastics. She is quick to state her opinion, doesn't follow others and definitely marches to the beat of her own drum (hence, the very very colorful tennis shoes :). She has a passion for the forgotten on this earth, whether it's a shark or a homeless person - I know God is developing these gifts in her to be used by Him for His glory. I adore her and marvel at how quickly she is growing up and becoming a beautiful young lady.

The day she got her braces:

Our sweet Casey

Washington DC

Cary had a day layover in Washington DC, so Austin and I flew out with him on Friday night and returned Saturday night. We had an awesome time and the weather was gorgeous (both there and here in Minnesota!). Our friends, the Moores, were able to meet us for the day with very little notice and it was so good to spend some time with them. We hopped on the trolley early in the morning and were able to visit many monuments before we headed to the Air & Space Museum.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial

The Capitol

The Roosevelt Memorial, which is my favorite. It's a beautiful, expansive park with many words of wisdom inscribed on the walls throughout the memorial.

The Tidal Basin; a beautiful walking path encircles this area.

The Korean War Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial

The Vietnam War Memorial

World War II Memorial

The Washington Monument

The flags were all at half-staff to honor the fallen at Ft. Hood.

Cary's mothership, the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum

It is so fun to visit here with Cary; he is so knowledgeable about the history of flight, whether it's planes, jets or spacecraft. It's hard to believe that he once was able to walk through this museum with Chuck Yeager and hear about his experiences while looking at the actual aircraft that broke the speed of sound. We could literally spend days here, but had to make it a few quick hours.

This is the cockpit of a Northwest Airlines 747 - it has has waaaay more buttons than any spacecraft I saw!
Cary's range of interests: from 747s to unmanned spy planes (the Predator is below)

I had to take a pic of this! It was a doxie club meeting on the mall area!

Mari and Tom Moore; Cary and Tom have been close friends since early high school.

National Museum of Natural History

The Hope Diamond

The leaves had not fallen yet, and there were some gorgeous trees.

The official Christmas tree, yet to be decorated....
Getting ready to fly us home. I don't remember the last time I was on a flight that Cary flew. We are usually passengers together. I enjoyed it so much and it gave me a renewed appreciation for how difficult this job is; it's demanding physically and mentally. There is no room for error. The best pilots make it look easy, because they are incredibly skilled. Austin enjoyed seeing his daddy in the cockpit, and the flight attendant had Austin come to the back and call on the phone to the pilots once the passengers were onboard. It was fun to see the pride in Austin that HIS daddy was flying. And the landing in Minneapolis....smooth as butter. Austin said "I didn't even know the wheels touched the ground!". Yep, that's my man.

Happy Spooks!

Happy Halloween! We had such a good time last night with the kids and our friends. It was a chilly night (what else is there in October in Minnesota), but the kids didn't notice! I cooked a fun dinner and had several families over to eat and then the dads took the kids around the neighborhood. It's one of my favorite times in our neighborhood because everybody is out and about - many people have fire pits in the front yard, giving away hot chocolate or other beverages and several houses collect food items for the local food shelf. It's a very active busy time for our neighborhood and full of fun energy. It was nice that it was a Saturday night, and we didn't have to get the kids to bed. We enjoyed time with our friends while the kids traded and bartered their candy. It was an awesome time together!

My Happy Place

Cary and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary in the Florida Keys aka My Happy Place :). I find the center of my soul when I am at the ocean; there is peace and clarity and love there for me. I'm so thankful that Cary feels the same way and that we are both drawn to it when we want time away together. Our friends, Toinia and David Walker joined us and we had an amazing time together. Cary and I flew into Miami and drove down to the Keys, while T&D drove down from Georgia. After we got in our car and were driving out of the city, David called Cary and asked where we were. Unbelievably, they were only ten cars behind us on the same highway! So the trip started out very fun and just got better. I spent 6 days with the man I love and wonderful friends who have known me since grade school. It was a beautiful time of celebrating our marriages and the journeys that have brought us to where we all are today. We do not take any of it for granted and it was so joyful to be with a couple who are as madly in love as we are!

I took a bazillion pictures, and tried to narrow down to my favorites here.

This was the view out the window - this morning I tried to picture it in my mind when I woke up, but it wasn't quite the same!

We stayed at Tranquility Bay in Marathon

Bahia Honda State Park

We were walking along the beach and found this "shell tree". People had hung shells with holes on the little branches.




One evening, we had dinner at Burdines - a little restaurant on a waterway and there was live music and great food while we watched the sun set.

Dry Tortuga Islands/Ft. Jefferson

On Saturday, we took a 2 hour boat ride 70 miles west of Key West to the Dry Tortugas. I wasn't sure what to expect; we were planning on snorkeling and touring the fort. It was one of the most incredible places I've ever visited. The Fort has such rich history and was a feat of engineering in the 1800s. We were riding along for 2 hours in the middle of the ocean and then you start to see it....

The boat that took us out to the fort

We started our snorkeling along these old remnants of a dock and the coral was HUGE! You would never imagine looking at these old posts what lies just below the water's surface. We ended up snorkeling around the entire perimeter of the fort! The guide had told us what to expect to see, and one of the things he mentioned was nurse sharks. I really wanted to see one because they are Casey's favorite shark. I knew that they were nocturnal and tend to lie in the sand during the day, so I kept looking down. At one point, Toinia and I were ahead of the guys and we looked up and saw a nurse shark coming straight at us. I froze and I heard Toinia screaming - we watched it go right between us! I was not expecting to see one like that! Another encounter was when Cary and I were snorkeling side by side and he grabbed my arm and pointed out a huge pink/purplish Portugese Man o War. They are extremely dangerous and large. I took off and it seemed the more that Cary tried to get away, it stayed within inches of his arm. That was not a pleasant encounter! We finally got further from it and had to take a few minutes to get our wits back.

I don't know why but I love this pic that Toinia snapped while we were waiting in line - just my man and me.

Cary took us up to get a bird's eye view of the islands. It was so cool! Toward the end of the flight, I spotted a shark, and then another and another. They were surrounding a very small island - there must've been over 2 or 3 dozen. It was kinda creepy!

You could see people snorkeling along the reefs.

Honey, I'll take.....that one!

Jet skiing on the Gulf

We went on another snorkeling trip that I dubbed "Deadliest Snorkel". It was windy and the boat ride was very.....nauseating. The reef wasn't great and Toinia had something very very large and dark swim by her. I got out and didn't get back in. Neither did anyone else.... But on the way back to land, a pod of dolphin found us and we had a blast watching them. There was a mom and baby (I've posted a video at the end), so it made the trip worth it!

One of our highlights was renting scooters for the afternoon and evening on Key West. We went to the sunset celebration on the pier and had soooo much fun tootling around (in spite of the whole highway incident Mr. Ryan!).

It all had to come an end though; this was the sunset over Minnesota as we landed. Not too bad either....

Undefeated!

Football season in the Ryan household is officially over (except for Gator games!). Austin had another great season this year and we, once again, are very grateful for great coaching. Hard to believe, but the coaches draft their teams while watching the boys during clinics in the summer. Austin's coach from last year chose him and 3 other boys from last year's team. They had an awesome team, not just skill and talent, but great sportsmanship and teamwork. The "Bulldawgs" finished the season undefeated with one tie game; combining that record with last year's record of no losses is very exciting for a ten year old boy who loves to play football. His buddy, Travis, was on the team this year, which was very fun!

Coach Vance (center) with assistant coaches

They do such a great job teaching our boys!

Our No. 50!
A very cold morning that began with snow - there were some Saturday mornings that were so cold, the boys had a hard time holding the ball. They are troopers!

That's our boy running with the ball.

He's a tough one!

This little guy (#27) will be playing college and pro ball for sure. Diandre could get through ANY thing put in front of him. He's so small they had to tie back his jersey, but that boy can run and twist and go through blocks like we've never seen!

Casey and Taylor at a game

SCC!

Last night, a friend of mine and I went to see Steven Curtis Chapman in concert as part of the Women of Faith conference in St. Paul. For years, he has been one of my favorite artists, but over the last year and a half, he and his family have demonstrated an incredible strength that I hope I would find in the core of my soul. I have followed their blogs, especially Mary Beth's, to the point where, last night as SCC was sharing tidbits about their family, I felt like a stalker because I knew it all! I knew that yesterday, Mary Beth took one of her daughters to school dressed up like a scarecrow, but it was the wrong day!! Technology today makes us feel like we know them and it's amazing how powerful it is in the quest for prayer and lifting up families at times of need.

Both of Steven's sons played, Caleb on the guitar and Wil on the drums. The cameras were on Wil quite a bit through the evening, and I had to choke back the tears everytime because this boy is a miracle today. With a smile on his face, and pounding the daylights out of those drums (in an incredibly talented manner!) all I could do was praise our Father every time I saw him. He was the brother who accidently ran over his little 5 year old sister a year and a half ago. His life is a living testament to the power of a family who walked through tragedy with true love, allowing their doubt and anger to rise to the surface and be skimmed off by a loving God. It's an evolving process, and will be until the day we are all in heaven. I've always been drawn to SCC and his music because of what I call "the real deal". He is translucent in his journey of life and his passion in his quest for seeing the face of God is reflected in his art. I was once again, honored, inspired and humbled by hearing his music and testimony.

Class of '84 Reunion

The Class of 1984 of KHHS had their 25th reunion this past weekend (Sept 19 & 20, 2009) and it was an amazing time of seeing old friends, reconnecting with them, and laughing til we couldn't breathe anymore! We are spread all over, mostly in the southern states. Sadly, I won the "Farthest Traveled" award - not sure how I feel about that! But this reunion far exceeded my expectations (the 10th was a bomb...). We attended the high school football game on Friday night and it was very fun to be back in the stands. We sat by the band (which is very little these days :( and it's amazing the memories that came to us!

On Saturday, there was a family picnic and then that evening we had a nice dinner and dance at The Hilltop Restaurant in Orange Park. My very best friends from high school were there, Helen, Lisa and Toinia and David. We laughed constantly until our cheeks hurt. At one point, someone came over to us and said "I wish I had gone to band camp with you guys! You're having more fun than anyone else here!". We were having a blast reminiscing about crazy times. Throughout the weekend, I realized how rare this was - to be with people who I had known since 3rd grade. These days, it seems that families move more and kids aren't in one place their whole lives. My friend Lisa were talking about when we moved away, we were eager to get away from small town life, but as we've grown older, we treasure the safety and security it brought. Many people who had moved away have moved back to raise their kids there.

We spent a lot of time with Toinia and David boating and just having fun on the lake. They had loaded the iPod with 80s music and played it while we were out on the water - so fun! Casey and Austin LOVED tubing and are begging Daddy for a boat next summer! We had late nights and great conversations. They now have ten children and have been married for 26 years. David and Cary were instantly bonded by a similiar sense of humor. Among the hilarious laughter was a great connection. We're already planning our next get together!

Today, Cary commented to me about what a great time he had at my reunion and how everyone was just genuine, not caring or even asking each other about jobs, etc. It was just a sense (maybe in our old age!) of getting to know people from our childhood again and how important those friendships were in shaping us.

Beautiful Lake Santa Fe (it took me a while to get over the fact that gators are in there! But I did. Eventually.)

Casey was all about going faster, and Austin was all about going slower - but they both loved it and went again and again.

I love this moment of David teaching my son how to kneeboard. It was a little surreal because the last time I was in a boat with him, we were kids ourselves!

The name of their boat is "Just a TAD More". TAD stands for Toinia And David. I Love It!

My "gentle giant" friend, Jeff Green

My man had not been on a wakeboard in 20 plus years and this is what he does. He even did a 360!

Melody was one of my first friends when we moved to our house in Keystone - she has been a wonderful long-time friend.

Our wild and crazy table (we were behaving here...)


A few videos - Toinia and I, Cary and David the expert! (pause playlist to hear laughter and screaming :)

Soccer 09

The season wrapped up today with 2 tournaments games vying for 1st Place. Casey's team won and worked very hard throughout the season to get to this place. I didn't realize at the beginning of the season who her coach was and I am, once again, very thankful for the amazing coaches in this little town of ours. Coach Bob (and his dad on the left) were so good at not just coaching, but teaching the sport of soccer. Bob's father was instrumental in creating the soccer leagues here in the Grove.

At this age, they are still learning so much and since it was only Casey's 2nd season, she had a lot to learn. She loves soccer now more than ever, and when I thanked her coach this afternoon, he was very commending of her performance this year and said he would love to see her develop her "amazing potential" if she wants to pursue soccer. So we'll see! She's so fast and loves to get to that ball!

Coach giving his great pep talks before the game this morning.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for Casey (7th) and Austin (5th). The morning came VERY early and I feel like I'm still trying to wake up.... The kids were excited and we took the traditional first day pics, but we were a little rushed and so they're not great. But Cary took a video that totally captures the brother/sister relationship when sister is running late for the bus on the first day of middle school and it's quite funny. Mute the sound on the playlist so you can be sure to hear all the love....haha.

Casey getting on the "big bus"
This boy is full of joy, even early in the morning.